Of Shadows and of Light
by Masked Shota
Summary: A CronoxMagus fic. Finally UPDATED (again)! RXR PLEASE!
1. The Unexpected Passenger

Yaoiboy: Chrono Trigger isn't mine. I mean none of it. The characters, the locales, all of it is the property of Squaresoft. What else...well this is definitely a yaoi story, but its all soft stuff now. There's some mild language...but really this is just to see if I should continue. If you guys and gals like it, let me know, and if you don't, let me know that too. Thanks!  
  
  
  
The castle sat deep within the forest, shrouded in the thickest darkness, swimming in the aura of shadow magic. The wind, on occasion, swirled chillingly through the trees. It whispered through the dry leaves, lifting the dead ones from their precarious perches on gnarled branches, and carrying them into the recesses of the darkness, beyond where any man would ever chance to step. Nor animals, for that matter, except the bats. They frequented the massive building in clouds of fluttering gray and twinkling red.  
  
The entire fortress sat on an island far away from civilization, surrounded on all sides by perpetually rough waves and waters infested with the most vicious of sea creatures. There was another, more direct, route however; a cave equally dangerous, if not more so. It was infested with monsters and, beyond that, sealed. So Magus had enjoyed relative solitude there, just himself and the Mystics.  
  
Why Crono couldn't seem to understand this eluded him. The silvery-blue haired master of the Dark Arts sat in a cotton packed armchair. He scowled at the boy who stood directly in front of him, hands on hips, glaring. Idly, he replaced a long silvery strand that hung limply across his left eye, annoyingly impairing his vision. He knew before hand that this gesture, combined with his sustained silence, would further inflame the temper of the redhead before him. Thus, he was prepared for the coming verbal onslaught. Watching the boy's chest rise with a flicker of   
amusement, he guessed it would be quite an onslaught.  
  
"You AREN'T listening to me Magus!" it began, the volume of it causing him to flinch involuntarily. "I WANT to go to the next Millennial Fair, and you're COMING! Who knows what we'll find in the future? We need your strength if we're going to be safe, and you KNOW you want to come anyway. Without us you'll be all alone here. So grab your cape and get going!"  
  
To punctuate the statement, the boy pointed sharply at the door leading outside. Magus could not help but laugh out loud. Crono was giving HIM an order? It was definitely laughable, and became even more so as he saw the boy's expression lose some of that fiery resolve.  
  
"Are you done?" the man, clad simply in a sleeveless black shirt and black pants, asked between dying chuckles.  
  
"I guess so", the younger boy replied, his eyes smoldering, arms crossed over his white T-shirt, legs parted slightly in their rather tight, Magus noted, blue jeans.  
  
"Well then pay close attention", he began, the amusement in his face and voice already a distant memory. "If I wanted to go, I would already be boarding the Epoch and you wouldn't have had to waste your paltry commands on me. As the situation stands, however-" He paused suddenly, faltering as he watched Crono's face sadden before him, the response preempting the statement. He suddenly wasn't sure he wanted to continue...  
  
  
  
He had to be savoring the moment. That was the only explanation for this drawn out silence before the obvious finishing statement that was to come. Crono tried to hold on to his anger, but he couldn't do it. He just wanted Magus to come along. He wanted him to come because he, Crono, was going. He knew it was silly. He knew it was something else too, something more substantial, but he would only let himself recognize the silliness. And it was true that it could be dangerous, and that Magus's power would be an extra safeguard, but it wasn't true that the taciturn magician would want to come along to relieve any loneliness. That was just Crono, looking desperately for any small reason to get the man to join him.  
  
For a while, Magus sat with a look that Crono could only recognize as annoyance. Then, with a flash of exasperation, he rose suddenly and stalked over to the polished oaken dresser that dominated the right side of the darkened room. Without ceremony he stood before the large oval mirror, trimmed in that very same shining wood, and snatched up his dark plum colored gloves, shoving his hands inside.   
  
Crono's eye lit up. Magus WAS going to come! There was no way to be sure why, but he was coming, and that was enough. After watching the long-haired wizard run gloved hands through his light blue locks a few times, he began to feel a slight pain in his cheeks. With somewhat more of an effort than he thought it'd take, he managed to shrink the painful smile down to a cool smirk before Magus turned from the mirror. With a more measured step than before, the dark clothed wizard made his way past Crono to the door, retrieving his indigo cloak and wicked looking scythe on the way. The young swordsman turned to say something just as Magus pushed open the door, but he was beaten to the punch.  
  
"Not one word, boy. Not one." came the deep voice from the silently retreating figure. Crono smirked even more.  
  
"Not one word then", he said quietly to himself, and turned to follow after him to meet up with the others who were waiting outside.  
  
  
  
Marle, Lucca, Frog, Robo and Ayla were all outside in the forest clearing around the Epoch. Lucca held an animated discussion on physics with Robo while she made a few last minute checks to the android's systems. Ayla and Frog were busy with speed training that consisted of Frog (a humanoid frog-like creature), hopping easily from Ayla's (an incredibly strong female from prehistoric times) reach. Further away from the group, Marle, or Princess Nadia as she was known to the courier with whom she spoke, was busy sending her final goodbyes to her father, the King of Guardia.  
  
Unconsciously they were all delighting in the weather. The skies were a deep, clear blue. Puffy white clouds, pushed along by a gentle, cool breeze, sparsely populated the heavens. The whole forest was dappled with sunlight filtered through the overhanging branches, warming the air to just the right temperature and coaxing the various flowers to release there sweet scents. It was no surprise, then, that the sudden cold breeze caught them all off guard, as did the incremental darkening of the sky. It caused them all to look up from their various tasks. Upon doing so, they saw Magus emerging from the quaint cabin where they all gathered to spend time together, and he chose to stay. He, of course, was the reason for the sceneries sudden change.  
  
With an upward tilt to his head just short of arrogant, Magus made his way to where the Epoch sat humming in the clearing, his cloak flowing regally behind him. He ignored the stares he garnered. The surprise in their eyes only served to remind him that he was, in fact, joining them on this field trip/mission. Since he didn't know exactly why he was going, it was something he would rather not think on too much. He leaned against the cool metal side of the time traveling vehicle and crossed his arms. The ship made a few subdued sounds, almost like speech, and Magus grunted in response.  
  
"Well Magus, antisocial as usual I see", came Lucca's voice across the clearing. He watched as she replaced the upper half of Robo's titanium skull, adjusted the rather large glasses she wore, and headed over to him. Her red clothing was a sharp contrast to the natural greens of the scenery. With a sigh, he mentally steeled himself against her annoying know-it-all disposition.  
  
"Why don't you lighten up a bit Magus? I mean what's with the I'm-so-serious demeanor? It is a well known fact that a person cannot survive without a good dose of happiness every now and then."  
  
How she could waste such spiel on someone who obviously didn't give a damn was a mystery. How ever well meaning her intentions happened to be, he simply did not care to hear this at the moment, or any other moment for that matter.  
  
"You know what would make me happy?", he said, half musing over the idea and grinning at her inquisitive features. "If Lavos came back from the dead and bit off your head. Then I'd smile for you."  
  
As proof, he flashed a wicked grin in her direction.  
  
"Oh what an awful thing to say! But you and I both know that is an impossibility. We defeated Lavos outside of time. It's not possible for him to be brought back for various reasons. It would take a dimensional rift in the space-time continuum for it to even be feasible, but even then there would only be a one in infinity chance of that happening.", she replied, her mood unshaken, and with a smirk that bordered on arrogant, she walked off.  
  
Magus sighed and closed his eyes. Why he ever tried to ruin her mood was also a mystery to him, but whatever, she was out of his hair for now.  
  
"Methinks thou may have meant that remark."  
  
Magus didn't have to open his eyes to see from whom the remark had come. Even if he hadn't recognized that tone dripping with joyless nobility, the Old speech and the "ribbit" after the statement would have given it away.  
  
"I didn't", Magus replied, grudgingly admitting that he had no desire to see the girl killed. He had seen enough death and destruction, caused enough...  
  
"Aye, that is most likely true, but thine past speaks for itself. I cannot truly trust thee, even now", the voice came again, followed closely by another characteristic croak.  
  
"Nor do I trust you. I do not fear you in the least bit, and never shall. You may wield the Masamune, but so did Cyrus before I-"  
  
The two moved fluidly, quickly, Magus ever prepared for battle against his now enraged foe. Frog's heavy battle sword, the magically fortified Masamune, had left its sheath in one practiced motion. The only hint of its movement had been the near silent rasp of the blade against the dark metal of the ornate scabbard. Its course would have brought it to Magus's neck, only in threat as had happened on several occasions before. Even so, the shadow magician would not even allow it to get that far. In a blur of movement, Magus's hand found his scythe and swung it in a tight arc from where it lay hidden beneath his cloak, which he had easily thrown open to avoid shredding it. With an expertly timed twist of his wrist, the curved blade caught the heavier, straighter one, and took it to the ground, the points of both stabbing into the earth.   
  
"Before I killed him", Magus finished, a mirthless smirk on his face, there only to offend the overlarge golden eyes glaring at him. "And so you have the same blade now. Unlucky, my amphibious friend."  
  
Slowly, Frog unearthed his blade and returned it to its sheath. With a slow release of breath, the tenseness left the green man's body, but his eyes still burned.  
  
"Mine eyes", he began, his voice low with menace, "Art on thee."  
  
With that he strode off in the direction of the cottage where Crono stood watching from the steps, biting his lip with what appeared to be worry.  
  
"If you wanted the perfect trip", Magus said quietly to himself, "You shouldn't have invited me."  
  
  
  
Crono was actually worried about Magus. WHERE did THAT come from?! Of the two involved in that little confrontation, Magus was least likely to have come out with bruised pride, much less a bruised body. Still, he chewed his lip with undue concern, trying to discern any injury to the sorcerer from afar, receiving a cool gaze in return before the dark one resumed his stance of repose, arms crossed, eyes closed. Frog approached Crono silently, following the boy's gaze.  
  
"Twas nothing Crono. I am unhurt", he remarked, snapping the boy from his thoughts. "Fear not, I will keep constant watch over our dangerous companion. You'll have no reason to match blades with him."  
  
"Huh?", Crono asked, not understanding the point of that last statement until he realized his hand was tightly gripping the hilt of his katana. "O-oh, of course not...I just hope he doesn't fight like this the whole time. I invited him...", he started, his mind almost allowing him to say 'because I want him with me'. "Because I wanted him to have fun for once", he finished, only halfway lying. Frog nodded.  
  
"In all the time I have known him, I have yet to discern what he considers "fun", though even I would not say it is killing. Despite all my misgivings against him, I know he does not kill for love of it, rather, out of necessity."  
  
"He...has a kind heart", Crono said quietly, ignoring the questioning look on his companion's face and walking into the clearing towards Epoch, a slight flush to his cheeks. Suddenly two warm hands covered his eyes from behind.  
  
"Guess who!"  
  
It was an easy question to answer. The voice was a female one, with a pleasant pitch and words that were spoken with casual inflection, but flawless pronunciation. There was no way Crono could ever mistake the voice of rebellious princess who had been the catalyst that started the adventure that had brought the unruly group together. Knowing this, and knowing she knew it as well, where would be the fun in giving the right answer?  
  
"Ah, Robo?", he said, the beginnings of laughter already evident in his voice. "I'd recognize the cold metal hands anywhere."  
  
"Croooonoooo!"  
  
"Maaarleeeeee!"  
  
The hands were removed and Crono laughed along with the young blonde girl dressed in white pants, somewhat baggy on her slim frame, and a tank top of matching color. She stepped around in front of him and wagged a finger.  
  
"I go through a lot of trouble to keep these hands nice and soft you know, so I will not tolerate any further comparisons of my hands to Robo's", she said, perfectly feigning a grave expression.   
  
"This is a direct order from your Princess by the way."  
  
"My apologies, my liege, it shall never happen again", Crono responded, his tone a flawless imitation of Frog's, and to top it off he bowed low to the ground.  
  
They both burst into giggles simultaneously, and Marle shoved Crono just a bit.  
  
  
"When are we going? I'm getting bored with waiting", she said, her hand idly tracing the handle of the crossbow that was at her side.  
  
"In a minute", Crono remarked, still grinning. "I just have to make sure everyone is ready."  
  
"Well, I'm gonna hop on Epoch now. Could you try to hurry them up a bit?"  
  
Before Crono could respond, she was dashing to the Epoch, shoving Magus playfully before leaping into the vehicle. The man scowled after her, but easily settled back into his dark silence. Shaking his head, Crono made his way over to Robo, who stood motionless, reminding the boy humorously enough, of an oversized techno trash can.  
  
"Robo?"  
  
A series of clicks and beeps sounded and then:  
  
"Yes, Sir Crono? How may I assist you?" Round, glowing green optical sensors locked firmly on the red-haired teen.  
  
"I was only wondering if you were ready to go."  
  
More beeps and tones.  
  
"All systems appear to be running at optimum efficiency. I am ready whenever you are."  
  
"Great", came the friendly reply. "That just leaves Lucca and Ayla."  
  
A quick scan of the area and Crono knew the other two would be ready to leave whenever he was as well. Lucca sat at the base of a tree, writing lazily on a pad. Probably disproving the Theory of Relativity Robo had explained to her earlier. Ayla, on the other hand...was chasing her tail. Chuckling, Crono made his way over to the Epoch. He ended up standing in front of Magus, and he paused, waiting to be acknowledged. It wasn't that he was afraid to speak, only, the wizard looked so much better at rest. Almost innocent, Crono thought, the pale skin devoid of the wrinkles of scowls or derisive smirks. It looked...smooth...probably felt...soft...  
  
Slowly, Crono raised his hand towards the face, the sudden desire to actually touch Magus too overwhelming for reason to divert. What was the worst that could happen anyway? Pushing aside the vivid thought of a scythe removing the hand, he left the question unanswered. Better to focus on the skin, let it keep enticing him so he wouldn't lose his nerve. Then the eye fluttered open, dark, reddish pupils fixing first on Crono's hand, then on the face of the now frozen boy. The genuine surprise on the face of the silver-haired mage was not completely unexpected, but was that...was he...blushing?  
  
  
  
Magus struggled to regain his equilibrium. The boy was too close. He could feel the warmth of his body, especially intense where the hand hovered centimeters from his cheek. He could even smell him, which was something he had never had occasion to do. It was...pleasant. But why were both of his cheeks burning? And why was Crono blushing...blushing...was HE, MAGUS, blushing?! It was unthinkable! Yet he felt it, and the change from embarrassed surprise in the face before him to curious scrutiny was enough to let him know that Crono had noticed as well.   
  
He had to do something fast, but he didn't know WHY he had to do something fast or WHY it was so flustering that Crono in particular had seen him blush. If it had been any of the others the offending limb would have already been, at the very least, batted away. Why not the same with Crono...? The only reason that came to mind was one he would not let himself confront. Instead, with a annoyed scowl, he smacked the boy's hand roughly away.  
  
"What are you doing?"he asked, his tone sounding both annoyed and uncaring. He'd make the boy forget the blush easily.  
  
"I...I was just..."Crono stuttered, face darkening all the while. It occurred to Magus that there could be no rational reason for the boy to have gotten that close to him. His eyes narrowed as genuine curiosity rose within him, causing the young form before him to cower, just a bit. "I was only...swatting at a spider!"  
  
Maybe on one of his off days Magus would have believed such an unlikely story, but this was not one of those days. Beyond that, the way Crono suddenly began blabbering out some long string of incidents that lead to him coming to save the wizard from the obviously poisonous spider made it that much more hard to believe. Magus allowed the boy to babble on until he was finished, and considered burning the thin veil of deceit to cinders. One look at the desperation in those reddened features eradicated the thought. There could only be one feeling hiding behind those eyes...  
  
"Whatever." Magus said gruffly after a brief silence, and turned with unintentional flourish towards the Epoch. He lifted easily from the ground and flew up and into the passenger section of the vehicle, recently added on by the resident know-it-all, Lucca.   
  
He did not speak to the others that were already there, chatting amongst themselves. They all glancing up when the overhead light flickered upon his entry, but he made his way straight to the back row. Had he taken the time to notice the odd glances he was given, he would have realized that his cheeks were once again flushed rosy red. As it was, he didn't notice at all. He kept thinking of the look in Crono's eyes, the desperate desire for something unspoken...It reminded him of little Janus's face in the mirror...the day that the mysterious red headed visitor came...  
  
  
  
What a RELIEF! Crono stood with his hands flat against the hull of the Epoch, his head hanging down between his outstretched arms. Magus had bought it, or at least, pretended to buy it. Either way, he was off the hook, and had managed to keep his hand attached to the rest of him. However, the incident now behind him, he realized that he hadn't managed to touch him. All that for nothing...except...he'd made Magus blush! What was all that about anyway...had the taciturn wizard...maybe...felt something?   
  
"Felt what?", the boy asked himself with a small sigh and a hint of bitterness. Magus was more likely flushed red with anger than anything...that had to be it, Crono decided. "He doesn't even want me to touch him", he thought out loud.   
  
And then he was on his back.  
  
"Ayla!" he yelled at the muscled blonde female who had tackled him, and now sat on his chest like a cat, complete with the tail whipping excitedly about.  
  
"Crono!" she yelled back, mimicking him and then laughing. "We go now. Ayla tired of sitting around. All inside, Crono outside. Ayla come to get Crono. Come!"  
  
"I'm ulp!-"   
  
Before he could say anything more, he found himself waving about wildly with a tail about his waist towing him after Ayla who, scoffing at conventional methods like ladders, made her way into the ship by somersaulting off the side of a tree, scrambling up the metal surface of the Epoch, and diving deftly into the seating area/cockpit.   
  
"Crono here." Ayla announced proudly, even though the Crono she delivered was a dizzy form on the floor with hair all splayed out of place. "Now we go." 


	2. The Adventure Begins

Yaoiboy: Well, I know it's been a long time, but I was waiting to get 10 reviews before I continued.  
  
Magus: No, he was just being lazy.  
  
Crono: *nod*   
  
Yaoiboy: Quiet, both of you, before I add a castration scene. *evil grin*  
  
Crono and Magus:......  
  
Yaoiboy: Much better. Anyhow, since everyone who responded liked my story, and since for some reason there is a shortage of this type of pairing, and well, cuz I like to write ^_^ I will finally continue. Though I have made many wishes to the contrary, Crono Trigger and all that it entails is still owned by Square. I make no claim to anything but this story. R and R PLEASE!   
  
  
  
The pre-flight checks were extensive. Crono could NOT decipher them, especially the new ones that came along with all of Lucca's improvements. Yes, the Epoch could seat more, travel faster, and had shields and armor and weapons galore, but only Lucca could make sense of all the gauges and dials and flashing lights in the cockpit. It was no surprise then, that she was hovering behind Crono as he went down the list of the aforementioned checks.  
  
"Fuel Core temperature...check. Shield efficiency...check. Weapon's efficiency...check. Boredom level...rising!"  
  
Crono was able to get a few chuckles in before being smacked in the back of the head by a decidedly no-nonsense Lucca.  
  
"Be serious Crono, these checks are crucial to avoiding unnecessary complications during flight. Remember, this is the first inter-era flight of the Epoch since the addition of the passenger section. I don't want anything to go wrong."  
  
"I know, I know," Crono replied, unable to hide all of the impatience in his voice. He was ready to get the entire trip underway, and by the looks of it, so were all the others.  
  
Marle, in the first of the three passenger rows, looked outside her window with a sort of longing expression. She fiddled with the strap across her chest idly, and sighed heavily every now and then. Across the aisle from her sat Frog, his overlarge golden eyes only half open, dozing. Directly behind him was Robo, who sat perfectly, inscrutably still, the metal of his body glinting from the sunlight filtering in, and the lamps in the aisle. Ayla was in the seat across from him...gnawing on her seat belt, and squirming about restlessly. In the far back row, sat Magus.  
  
Crono was watching them all, as Lucca chattered on about this inconsistency and that while finishing up the checks for him. His eyes stopped on Magus though, and his cheeks warmed, remembering the encounter of only minutes ago, when he had almost touched the wizard. He still wondered if Magus had indeed been blushing, if he had felt something...something that Crono himself felt all the time. Looking at the man now though, wrapped in his dark plum colored cloak, eyes closed, features obscured by unnatural shadows, Crono could not imagine Magus cared about much at all. The wizard shifted, opened his eyes, and stared directly at Crono, but before anything could be discerned, Lucca tapped his shoulder and began talking.  
  
"Crono look at this," she said, pointing to one of the various dials. She might as well have pointed at the moon."The structural integrity of the left wing junction is .00012% below maximum."  
  
Crono blinked once, twice, then did his best to hold off laughter.  
  
"I didn't even know there were numbers that small," he said at last, and was rewarded by a scowl from Lucca."Seriously Lucca, this is a lot of preparation for a 30 second flight. Besides, everyone is ready to gooo."  
  
  
  
Magus watched with some amusement the frantic and concerned gestures of a seemingly perturbed Lucca, and the impatient and excited responses from Crono. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he didn't really care. As much as she annoyed him, Magus trusted Lucca's competence. If it was anything serious, she would take care of it. Besides that, he was more concerned with reigning in his emotions.  
  
What emotions?, he thought bitterly. I don't even HAVE emotions! Of course, though he thought these things, he knew they weren't true. Everyone ELSE wasn't supposed to know that though, but it was definitely beginning to show. Just his presence on the ship would have given him away, if they weren't all used to him doing things out of the ordinary to fulfill some hidden agenda. Even so, he had been seriously against this trip until Crono had gone in to talk with him. Then there was the whole blushing incident, but he didn't even want to THINK about that.  
  
All in all though, the fools probably don't suspect anything, he thought. At least, they don't expect the truth...  
  
Abruptly, he turned his mind to other things. There were a number of new spells he had been practicing of late. Things he'd witnessed long ago when...  
  
He sighed and changed his thoughts again. His past was no less stressful than his present. Finally, he resigned himself to practicing in his mind the incantations he had mastered, not thinking of where he'd seen them, or anything else.  
  
After a few moments he heard the hum of the Epoch's idle engine increase in earnest to a thunderous pitch. He opened his eyes and saw Lucca had already taken her seat behind Marle, and that the previously relaxed posture of Frog had become alert. Ayla was more restless than ever. She cheered suddenly, and to the dark wizards chagrin, so did everyone else, except Robo, who only clicked and beeped.  
  
"FINALLY," came Marle's exasperated voice from up front. " I thought I'd age to death before we got going!"  
  
"Aye," came Frog's retort,"but it is ill advised to forgo precautions for the sake of impatience." Magus could just IMAGINE the appreciative smirk on Lucca's face.  
  
"Alright everybody, we're off to the Millennial Fair! Woohooo!"   
  
That from Crono. Magus had to admit, the excitement was infectious. He ALMOST smiled when he looked at that beaming red headed boy.  
  
He could feel the Epoch rising, the thrusters vibrating the entire cabin. It was a lot different from flying on his own. The G-forces were unsettling, pushing his stomach down inside him on the rise, then pressing him into his seat after the brief respite of leveling off. The sky outside streaked past, the resulting visual like vivid blue marble. The roar of sound, though significantly subdued, was still overwhelming, and the faster they went, the louder it got.  
  
Memory warned him of the coming jolt that accompanied the sudden thrust into hyper-speed. His eyes found Crono just as the ship's mechanisms went into overdrive, causing everything to become sluggish for an instant and blurred by the effect of overwhelming speed. The sound of space and time tearing was like a lighting storm, and then the Epoch made a sickening lurch forward as it tore into the frictionless realm of space-time. The windows were filled with a miasma of colors and lights, and Magus shut his eyes against the tremendous mixture of noise and force that assaulted him mercilessly.  
  
  
  
There was no sound. No anything. Just the colors he saw through the windshield, the vast nothing of space-time, and the incredible G-forces that held him. He was used to it, though he had never explained it to the others. The way the speed sucked the sound away, behind him. They could all hear, but Crono was in silence. It was, and always had been, rather awe inspiring the way he watched the universe tear away into this silent chaos. He could catch glimpses of times he'd never seen, alternate realities, if only he looked hard. But he had to keep his eyes on the gauges. He would never hear them if they went off, so he had to watch the lights, just in case something happened. Though nothing ever did.  
  
Except this time.  
  
The light began to blink just as the ship pitched upwards and to the left. He tried to reach for the emergency stop, but the speed mixed with the sudden spinning altered the direction of the force wildly, and he just couldn't do it. Staring out ahead of him, he could see the flaming wreckage of the left wing for a blink of time each revolution. Each time it was closer, and he screamed just before it smashed into the windshield, a piece of it banging against his head, knocking him out cold.  
  
  
  
The screaming was terrible. It was as if he were in Hell, the screams of the damned in some horrible chorus funneled into his ears. They were all screaming, frantic. The sound of the air being sucked from the ship, the sound of the metal rending and crushing inward from the decompression, the warning alarms, all like some hellish symphony. There was debris streaking back at him in a deadly barrage, but with a flick of his wrist a thin film of dark energy surrounded him tightly, and it was all deflected.  
  
Then he saw Crono. The boy's limbs flapped limply, all pointed towards the gaping hole in the windshield. Without thinking Magus released the hold he kept on his immense powers and the resulting darkness swallowed the cabin, canceling the G-forces that had pinned him to his seat. Like a streak he shot to the front of the ship, barely noticing the princess who also stumbled to Crono's aid. But they were both too late. His seatbelt snapped, and Crono was flung into space time, Marle suffering the same fate a second later, and Magus leaping out after the both of them.   
  
In his mind he only thought of Crono. He could see the bloody gash in the side of the boy's face, the pale skin. He could not lose him!  
  
It took tremendous concentration to maintain his shield in the warped space time environment, and since there was no up and down, he could not easily follow the path upon which Crono was flung. Yet he managed. Even as his shield was torn, and the fabric of the universe sapped away his strength, he reached his goal. He held Crono's body close to him. It was limp and cold, but there was a heartbeat. He was still alive.  
  
Now back to the ship. I have to get back to the ship! the wizard thought frantically, and he gathered the vestiges of his strength, as well as his equally important almost arrogant self-confidence.  
  
"Space and Time are NOTHING TO ME! I AM MAGUS! FEEL MY POWER!!"  
  
No one heard the words, but that he said them was enough. His power concentrated itself about the two, swallowing them up and shielding them. He looked about for Marle, and saw her near ravaged Epoch, that had boomeranged back towards them. He willed himself towards them, and then, he felt it.   
  
The mechanism in the Epoch activated on schedule, and the whole of space-time slowed and blurred. Magus screamed curses towards the ship, and pleas. He sped forward, but he knew he could never make it. He was near enough to be caught in the distortion as space-time was torn. He got close enough to grab Marle, but not tight enough to hold her.  
  
Then something strange happened. In the distortion, Magus could feel his powers increase exponentially, far beyond his control. He felt the dark energy consume his body, and as he looked, Crono had become a silhouette of blinding radiance in his arms, that were themselves nothing more than shadows. They began to warp into one another, Marle's lower half trapped within the strange mixture of dark and light energies.   
  
It all only lasted a moment though, before she was sucked into the rip along with the Epoch, while Crono and Magus were flung through a rift of their own. 


	3. Revelations

Magus: *sigh* Before yaoiboy gets here, I should warn you that in this part of his story, he has my younger counterpart defiled.  
  
Janus: Yeah *sniff*  
  
Yaoiboy: *enters* Hey! Get back in your cages!!!  
  
Magus: *mutter*  
  
Janus: *sniff*  
  
Yaoiboy: Oh, yeah, I should warn you there's some non-consensual stuff in this part. Nothing graphic, or explicit. It's not even actually confirmed that any particular thing happened...but still, just to be safe, I'm WARNING YOU!!! Don't flame me, okay? I'm not a whopper. ;;  
  
Crono: ba-dum-bum   
  
Yaoiboy: CAGES!!!!  
  
Disclaimer: Though I have hired a super secret team of ninja lawyers, none of their ancient tactics have been able to procure the ownership of Crono Trigger for me. So, I still don't own it. A bunch of squares-I mean, Squaresoft does. So, um, don't sue me?  
  
  
  
Crono felt light, as if he were floating on air, or rather, like he was air. He couldn't feel his limbs, he couldn't feel his heart beating, but he was conscious. Maybe that's all he was.  
  
He could remember everything up 'till being knocked out. He figured that everyone was dead, including himself. After all, there was nothing but darkness, and he couldn't feel anything. After all, no matter how much he willed it, he could make no mouth open and no voice scream the one name that kept repeating in his mind.  
  
And then, his eyes opened.  
  
Immediately, he recognized the locale. There was only one place he had every seen that was as beautiful as the room before, only one place with magic in the air-literally. It was the floating kingdom of Zeal, inside the palace, in someone's fittingly opulent bedchamber.  
  
Okaaay, Crono thought uneasily as he attempted to rise. It was then he realized that he still couldn't feel anything. So of course, the body didn't move. In fact, nothing much happened at all for a while, except blinking that he couldn't feel, and shifting that he couldn't control. Then in walked a beautiful woman in a shimmering white nightgown with magic woven within the threads. He thick blue locks cascaded down onto her shoulders, and when she smiled, as much with her sparkling green eyes as with her mouth, even this seemed magical. Crono recognized this woman! As the body he was in sat up, Crono's mind raced.  
  
That's Schala, Magus's sister! What the heck is going on?  
  
The eyes squinted towards her, the effects, Crono guessed, of a smile in return, and then cast a downward glance at the purplish cat at her feet. A child's hand reached out, and Crono heard the tongue clicking of a cat call. With one graceful leap, the cat was in the bed beside the mystery body that Crono occupied.   
  
I recognize that cat too...Magus's cat?!  
  
"Here, Alfador," came the boyish voice that confirmed Crono's suspicions. He was inside of MAGUS'S body! Well, technically, Janus's body, BUT STILL!  
  
"Good morning, Janus," Schala said, just as the scene began to fade to black.  
  
What IS this? Crono thought, but before he had time to really think about it, he was looking up into the eyes of, well, himself.  
  
"The black wind begins to howl," Janus began,"one of you is about to perish..."  
  
How could I ever forget THAT? Crono asked himself, remembering how he'd felt upon first hearing the prophecy of his own death. He watched the quizzical expression on his face as he walked off, and was surprised when Janus suddenly took off running after him, stopped short when he saw his sister of to the side, giggling at him, then took off in another direction. He bumped into a table, upsetting a stack of magic books that sent jets of flames in an arch across the room and sat a man's robe on fire. The man turned around just in time to see the impish blue haired prince dash down the corridor towards the royal bathroom.  
  
Geez! What was THAT about? Crono wondered as Janus turned into the extravagant royal washroom.   
  
He came to a stop in front of a bubble that hovered motionlessly above a gleaming silver sink. While he stood before it, it filled with water and, and Janus's face was reflected therein.   
  
Crono noted first the wide green eyes, that stared back at themselves as if in disbelief. Then the strands of blue hair that had fallen in front of those eyes during the boy's frantic running. Then the small, cute little mouth wide open and gasping for air, nothing like the cold scowl that Crono remembered. Lastly, he noticed the flushed red cheeks.  
Is he...blushing???   
  
Janus raised a hand to his cheek gingerly, and just stared at himself, eyes blinking deliberately every now and then. Crono heard the soft tap of casual footsteps as Schala appeared in the mirror behind the boy, a knowing smile on her face.  
  
"He is cute, isn't he?" she said easily.  
  
"...he is."  
  
Crono was at a loss for words as the scene dissolved as quickly as the last. He wondered if they had, perhaps, been talking of some other "he" that he himself did not know about. It seemed very unlikely though.  
Then that means...all this time...  
Very suddenly, Lavos towered above him.  
  
"NOOOO!"  
  
The boy glanced to the left in time to see Belthasar sucked into space-time. He turned his head to Schala and was able to take one step before the world split open beneath him, and swallowed him whole.  
  
"Schalaaaaaa!"  
  
Crono had only been told about this part of the story, vaguely, after much pestering. Though it made a heart wrenching scene, and the chaotic jaunt through space-time hit too close to home, he was very curious to see what had happened first hand.  
  
The trip ended violently. Janus was ejected through a random rift in space-time into the open sky, and hit the ground hard after dropping several feet. He was saved from serious injury by the lush grass that partially broke his landing. That was probably not on his mind though. Crono was sure of it, as the boy did not make any attempts to rise, and soon the sound of his sobs joined nature's chorus. Only a few moments had passed when Crono heard the grass whispering a warning of someone's approach. He heard several quick, light steps, and he heard AND felt the rumble of very slow, ponderous steps. Soon, shadows danced on the grass about little Janus who, still sobbing, did not bother to look up and investigate.  
  
"What is it?" a tiny voice asked.  
  
"A humon!" another answered.  
  
"Looks like lunch to me", came a whiny voice in a superior tone that Crono could never have forgotten.  
  
Ozzie!  
  
Janus looked up slowly to see three little multicolored, giggling imps and one HUGE green blob of a creature with mean looking beady eyes, and a tunic that could have canvassed Zeal Palace. He squinted at the strange group, and cautiously began to rise.  
  
"Oh but it's only a child!"  
  
"A baby!"  
  
"Bite sized, I'd say," Ozzie added, and bared his menacing looking teeth.   
  
"You had best leave me be," Janus replied, through clenched teeth from the sound of it."I'm not in the mood for this insolence."   
  
There was the briefest moment of silence as the rabble bunch froze and looked at him as if he were crazy. Then they burst into a horrible, most unmelodious gaggle of giggles.  
  
"So YOU laugh at ME? Fine. Enjoy your pain."  
  
Crono could recognize the hand motions of the spell that Janus hastily cast. It was the Dark Bomb. The entire area darkened drastically as the spell was cast, the shadow energies drawn to the boys hand condensed into dense ball of volatile power, and he flung it at the four of them.  
The imps tried to scream and scatter, but Ozzie did not make the slightest move. The Dark Bomb smashed right into him and exploded violently, rending a the ground and engulfing all of the targets. Janus stood still and waited for the thick clouds of dust to clear.   
  
That was powerful, Crono thought, but not at all strong enough to take out the Ozzie I remember fighting.   
  
Sure enough, as the dust thinned, there hovered Ozzie, completely unscathed. The imps weren't dead, but they might as well have been. They had fallen into the bottom of the small crater left in the aftermath of the explosion.  
  
"Gya ha ha ha! That was pretty good! But very STUPID!"  
  
Crono heard the lightening spell crackle seconds before impact, but little Janus never knew what hit him.  
  
*******************************************************************************  
  
Janus awoke naked and in chains. He was on his back, atop a table or some other elevated surface, and the chains held his arms out to his sides, and his legs spread wide. He could only lift his head a bit, but there was nothing to see but feebly flickering torches and darkness.  
Then there was the sound of a door opening, and the steps of many. Janus looked up and saw several creatures entering the room. Some he could see in hideous detail, while others kept to the shadows. Some even flew above him, and hung upside down, staring him in the face.  
  
"Here is the human boy who can do magic." It was Ozzie's voice again. His statement was met with a myriad array of sounds, not all of them in any language that Janus could understand, but all with a general tone of dissatisfaction.  
  
"why did you not just kill him and be done with it?" came a raspy, hissing voice.  
  
"Yes...Why bring him here?" piped in another, rumbling voice.  
  
The creatures began to murmur again, this time in agreement.  
  
"Ah, but do you not understand? This HUMAN was foolhardy enough to attack ME, your KING! He didn't have the sense to just quietly be eaten like the rest. He must be PUNISHED!"  
  
"Death is punishment enough. Kill him slowly, if you will, with much pain. But kill him, as human's bring nothing but trouble."  
  
"SILENCE!"  
  
There was a flash of orange light, and the unmistakable sound of roaring flames. A series of blood-curdling screams ensued, and Ozzie all but screamed to talk over the horrible sound. It was about this time that Janus's eyes blurred with tears.  
  
"Defying your MAGNIFICENT, BEAUTIFUL, ILLUSTRIOUS, INVINCIBLE KING brings nothing but trouble. Now shut up and listen as I announce this human's sentence."  
  
There was silence, except for the screams that continued on and on. Ozzie's hideous face appear above Janus, grinning cruelly as he licked his bulbous lips and spoke.  
  
"For his transgressions against the GREAT KING OZZIE, this BOY must submit himself to the will of the entire court."  
  
Ozzie looked to the left. He looked to the right. He looked straight ahead. Then he looked downright mad.  
  
"Well don't you fools get it???" he asked, the many folds of his face managing an exasperated expression.  
  
The crowd responded with a series of murmurs that amounted to a firm "We don't get it."  
  
Ozzie sighed, then threw up his hands and cried:  
  
"HAVE YOUR WAY WITH HIM YOU FOOLS!!!!"  
  
Then the defilement commenced.  
  
***********************************************************************************  
Janus lay on the cold stone floor of a cell, motionless, with his eyes closed. Crono kept willing angrily for a katana, or a body to hold one with. He was nothing but impotent rage. All he could think was: How could they??? Over and over again.  
  
He could not see anything that was done to the boy, since Janus shut his eyes against the torture. All Crono knew was the piercing screams he'd heard, and the devilish laughter from the room full of torturers. He could well imagine what they had put the boy through. It wasn't to hard to imagine.  
  
A strange thing had happened though, in the days that followed. Crono found it harder and harder to see through Janus's eyes. Everything was getting darker and darker day by day, and he could feel things when the vision's began to fade. He could feel a cool breeze, or feel himself breathing. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but at one point he was sure he had seen stars...  
  
This day, or night, there was no way to tell in the windowless dungeon, as Janus lay there he could here the voice of another boy. He could hear the booming voice of Ozzie decree a similar fate to this new boy, but the screams were not nearly as horrific as Janus's had been. The boy could not be in as much pain as Janus.  
  
Hours passed, and the door to the dungeon opened. Janus's eyes opened wide, but the scene was darker than it had ever been for Crono. He could barely tell if Janus moved or not, which he did, just enough to lay eyes on the newcomer. An androgynous boy with long red hair, who walked listlessly into the room before collapsing in a heap in the center of the floor. The vision went black. It was the last thing Crono saw.  
  
From then on he only heard snippets of conversation between the two. Things like:  
  
"I'm Flea."  
  
"...Do you hate this place?"  
  
"No more than I hate any other place..."  
  
"How can you SAY THAT! After what they've done to you...those...those...DEMONS!"  
  
"...It's no different from what other people do to me...I hate them all...humans, demons......."  
  
"....."  
  
"I hate them ALL!"  
  
And:  
  
"Lavos sent me here."  
  
"Who's that?"  
  
"A monster, like the rest of them. Just stronger..."  
  
"I've never heard of him..."  
  
And:  
  
"I bet they know about Lavos..."  
  
"So what...they'll never tell you..."  
  
"Oh, but I'll make them tell me. My power grows with my hatred. Soon the black wind will blow like a hurricane through this castle!"  
  
"What...is the black wind?"  
  
"I am."  
  
And that was the last Crono heard of Janus and Flea. The moment the statement ended he could feel himself thrust back into his own body, and there was rushing air, the sensation of falling, and the jolt of landing in the grass.  
  
Ack! This is way too familiar...don't tell me I AM Janus now!!  
  
Cautiously, the red headed boy opened his eyes and was looking up into a midnight sky, rimmed in a circle by the tops of trees. He then inspected himself, and to his relief, it was his own body. A quick look around told him that his was the ONLY body in the clearing where he'd landed.  
  
"Magus..."he whispered to himself, and wondered if the worse had befallen his companion. 


	4. Memories and Something Strange

Crono: To all my fans, I think I should warn you that I'm hardly even IN this chapter! .  
  
Yaoiboy: But you're always in my heart. ^_^;;;  
  
Crono and Magus: .;;;;;  
  
Yaoiboy: Bah, no one appreciates me. ANYWAY, this is chapter 4. As always, R&R PLEASE!!!!  
  
Disclaimer: Although I have promised a naked picture to everyone at Squaresoft if they would let me own Crono Trigger, I STILL do not own it...and there is currently a restraining order against me. *cough*  
  
  
  
  
  
From the corner of his eye, Janus could see Flea watching him from the corner of their cell. It was difficult to make much out in the near complete darkness except for a slumped, flesh colored form with hair that fell over the face like swamp vines, and eyes eerily reflecting the distant torch light from out side the door. Janus would not look directly at Flea in moments like this. It hurt him to see it now...  
  
"Nothing new..." the red-headed boy would say when he stumbled into the cell, in answer to a question Janus had long since stopped asking. And he would go and sit in the corner and wait, until...  
  
"They won't touch you anymore. They're afraid of you. Even Ozzie won't touch you..."  
  
"As it should be."  
  
"...but they do twice as much to me now."  
  
"...I'm sorry."  
  
Janus couldn't pinpoint exactly when he'd begun to have feelings for the listless youth who was his only company, but he did. It seemed that, one day they were across the cell from one another, in silence, and the next, they were close friends, clinging to one another for support.   
  
  
It was to be expected, Magus thought somewhat bitterly. We were all each other had, in those times...  
  
Abruptly, the reverie was over, but the dark magician knew that the bad memories would return, as long as his current situation did not change.  
  
He had nothing but his mind, it seemed. Nothing but that. He did not know if he was trapped in some magical realm, or if he were dead. He did not know if there was anything he could do about it, either. Worst of all though, he didn't know what had happened to Crono.  
  
Two red heads, he thought, again with bitterness.  
  
There were strange sounds all around him. The sound of liquids sloshing and rushing, the sound of heartbeats, one louder, one softer. It was too dark to see anything, though, if indeed there were anything to see. There was one other thing too. Something that tugged at the corner of his mind, more of a feeling than anything else. He couldn't place it, but it was familiar...  
  
All of this is familiar, in a way, he thought, and the memories came again in full force...  
  
  
"Don't let them destroy you. They will pay in due time for all the things they have done to us," Janus said, struggling to keep the anger out of his voice, and comfort the sobbing boy in his arms.  
  
"What difference does it make...I wish they would just kill me and get it all over with. What's the use in living, anyway, huh Janus? Nothing but bad things happen to people who are alive..."  
  
"That's nonsense! Listen to yourself, you're letting them beat you!"  
  
Janus could not stand seeing his friend in such a state, but he wasn't very adept at making people feel better. No matter what he said, it didn't seem to matter to Flea anyway. The boy simply accepted this to be his fate, and thought it unrealistic to do otherwise. At least, he thought so before he found out how much Janus's powers had grown.  
  
The normal guards had come in one day, squat, overweight cyclopses in thick, heavy armor. One of them entered the room, his steps slow and plodding, brandishing his heavy mace malevolently. His single eye looked from one boy to the other, and settled on Janus, who stared back with disdain.   
  
"Be a while since we 'ad this one ta play wiff, eh?"   
  
"Juss pick one. Not like I'm gunna get any of it. I gots guard duty."  
  
"You won't be the only one 'not getting any'," Janus hissed, his hands slowly making the motions of a spell he had yet to attempt in his young age. "No one is touching me, or him."   
  
The duo at the door did not laugh, as they knew that the blue haired boy had power enough to make good on his threat. Janus watched them and waited, his hands poised to make the final motions of the spell. He could already feel the energy in him gathering as the guards seemed at a loss as to what to do.  
  
"The guards before you lost their hands," he reminded them, referring to an incident that had happened long before. "I'm much stronger now, though," he added with a threatening smirk.  
  
"We'll see about that," the guard said and raised the mace as if to strike the boy; but by that time it was too late. The spell had already been cast.  
  
The shadows beneath the two grew denser and deeper, and the attacking cyclops stopped his hand in mid swing to look down at his feet, which were sinking into the floor. Before another second passed, there was a crack likening to thunder, and a tremendous gravitational pull that stretched the entire room into the cavernous blackhole that had been created beneath them. Then it was over, and they were gone.  
  
"W-w-what..was that?!?" Flea said, skittering to the corner of the cell in fear.  
  
For a moment, Janus reeled from the effort of casting the spell, yet at the same time he was terribly excited. Even a spell as powerful as that had not completely sapped his energy. He could have cast it 2 or three more times, not to mention the other spells in his arsenal. The time had finally come...  
  
  
Magus did not know how much time had passed, but things had changed somewhat. The softer heartbeat had become louder. The sound of sloshing liquid was more frequent, and more violent, and the feeling he had was more distinct. It felt like danger, some distant, small danger. It was strange, but that was all it was.   
  
Not like I can investigate, he thought. I wonder if it has anything to do with...Crono...  
  
It was a horrible thing to think at the time. Now he could not help but wonder if Crono were in danger, or if Crono was in the same situation as him, or if Crono were lost in some alternate world, searching for him...It was torture to think such things, because there was nothing he could do about them.  
  
In fact, all that he could do was look back into his memories to pass the time...  
  
  
They had walked the maze-like hallways of the castle with impunity. The fact that they were free was enough to deter the majority of monsters the stalked, or slunk through, the shadows. Janus took great satisfaction in knowing that he and Flea, two naked little children, could walk easily through a castle full of monsters without worry, based on his power alone.   
  
As it should be, he thought, with a hint of the royal arrogance that was, after all, his birthright.  
  
As the two boys neared the throne room, Janus stopped and turned to Flea, who looked very frightened, yet excited all at once.   
  
"Listen to me...Once I've beaten Ozzie and his henchmen, I won't be leaving here. I am going to use them to find my way to Lavos, and nothing will come between me and that goal....but you don't have to stay here. You can get away from this..."  
  
It was very hard for Janus to say such things. One reason was that he did not want to be alone here, surrounded by creatures that he hated with all his being. Two, he didn't really want Flea to go. He had gotten used to looking out for the boy, and he didn't want anything to happen to him.  
  
"I...don't really have anyplace else to go. I would rather stay with you anyway..." Flea responded, and Janus had nodded and turned away when he'd felt his face begin to flush.   
  
"Well then...there is one other thing. I can see a grim future ahead for me...the dark wind is with me for good, I think. I don't want to...create a bad reputation for myself, in case Scha....in case anyone ever finds a way to come looking for me. It's better that they think their Janus is dead..." He faltered for a moment, allowing himself memories of home for the first time in a while. He wondered if the red headed boy he'd seen in the palace had already met his fate...and then he shook the thoughts away. "I need a new name for myself..."  
  
For a while the two sat in silence. A flurry of bats scattered about them at one point, no doubt off to warn Ozzie of their approach. Janus was not afraid though.  
  
"It's rare," Flea began suddenly, "to find a human who can do any magic, especially as powerful as yours. In all the stories I've heard, they call wizards like you a magus, or magi. Why not just use that? It's common...so no one would ever think you were anyone special..."  
  
"Good idea. I'll call myself Magus from now on then. Remember, call me that and nothing else. I don't want these demons to know who I used to be."  
  
Flea nodded, and the two went on. There was a hush over the castle now. They ran into no more monsters en route to the throne room, but Magus had some idea of what to expect. Either they would all be there to defend their king, or they would all be there to simply watch and see who their new king would be...  
  
  
Something is wrong...  
  
The sounds had continued to escalate, but the feeling he had, had become very distinct. It was like an alarm in his head, screaming DANGER. It was the same way he'd felt whenever Lavos was near.  
  
What is this...?  
  
  
As Magus had guessed, the majority of the monsters had gathered in the throne room. There were torches lit along side the red carpet in the center of the room, that was stark and unfurnished except for a very large and opulent throne. And on that throne, Ozzie sat, grinning.  
  
"So, you've finally arrived! We've been waiting," he announced, but there was no reaction from the crowd, and he looked about uneasily.  
  
"If you've been waiting, you must know why I'm here. Shall I make the announcement, or shall you?"  
  
Magus would have laughed at the lost expression on Ozzie's face if he had seen it under different circumstances. As things were, he simply continued on.  
  
"I am your new king!"he cried loudly, and with such authority that it seemed what he said was true. "From now on you follow me! If anyone has a problem with this, then let them challenge me!"  
  
The words echoed in the silence of the room. No one said a thing. Ozzie looked as though he would have laughed, but for the fact that no one else was laughing.  
  
"T-the...the INSOLENCE! You ugly little human BRAT! What makes you think you are so strong??? I should have KILLED you in the beginning, but I won't make the same mistake twice. BE GONE!"  
  
A single gesture of his arm sent a bolt of lightening sizzling towards the boy, who's hair lifted as if in a breeze as he uttered a simple counter spell and deflected the bolt off the palm of his hand amidst a shower of dark purple sparks.  
  
"Come now, Ozzie. You can do much better than that, " he remarked, as he stood there before them all, fearing nothing.  
  
"Grrrr...take THIS!"  
  
As the flames sprung up around him and his companion, Magus chanted another simple counter spell that turned the flames black and cold, and then to wisp of smoke.  
  
"Enough toying around. One last shot Ozzie," he said, sounding invincible, but guessing he had enough power for one more counter, and one casting of the most powerful spell he knew.  
  
"Y-YOU LITTLE MONSTER! YOU THINK YOU'RE HOT STUFF HUH??? WELL NOBODY MAKES A FOOL OUT OF ME! GAAAH!"  
  
Magus quickly traced a long rectangle in the air before him, and took a step back, making sure Flea was right behind him. His magic wall spell could effectively counter a number of spells as long as he kept it concentrated and only used it for short periods of time. He could see the thin outline hanging in the air before him and he held out his hand in the middle of it. When he felt his hairs stand on end from the static energy gathering above him, he raised his hand above his head and concentrated. The lightening spell crashed into the wall, making it visible for a brief moment.   
  
"Hahahahaha! Take this and this and this and this and this!"  
  
Concentrated balls blasted from Ozzie's hands like shots, but Magus was able to deflect them all, almost totally, though his hand was singed somewhat from the continuous impacts.   
  
"*pant* You *gasp* little..."  
  
"Enough! It's my turn now."  
  
Magus had to act quickly. He had used up more power than he thought, and he could not cast the spell he'd wanted. There was another though. One that could fell the entire room. He began the fluid motions of the casting, and almost immediately there was a change in the atmosphere of the room. It began to darken as if beneath a very delicate veil, and slowly it became darker, and darker. The air itself was becoming thick and misty, and with the very last movement, that mist became deadly. All the monsters in the room could feel it. The mist sapped their strength slowly, but surely, and one by one they fell. Curative spells began to flash again and again like fireworks in the night, but no one cast them on Ozzie. No, the panting bulbous Ozzie slowly weakened, fell to the ground, and was not dead, but surely defeated...  
  
  
If Lavos weren't dead, Magus would have had no doubt that what he felt was indeed the same fiend. It was overwhelming him, this feeling of danger that seemed to grow with every second that passed. It was immense, and it frightened him only because he had no way to know what it was, or to combat it, but he knew it was there.   
  
What the hell IS it!? he thought, just before the sloshing stopped, and he heard something new. It was loud, like a muffled scream. The heartbeats picked up their rhythm, and sound of the liquid was one great rush. For a while, things went back to normal, but then there were more muffled cries. More of them, over and over and over.   
  
The light was so sudden and blinding that Magus would have shut his eyes to it if he could.  
  
"I see the head!"   
  
Wha...is that...was that...Lucca?  
  
"Come on, push your majesty! You're almost there!"  
  
He didn't recognize that voice, but what they were saying...did they mean...?  
  
"I AM PUSHING!!!"  
  
Marle???? It's them!  
  
"You're almost there! Oh it's a boy!"  
  
You can't be serious! Magus thought, finally putting all the comments together. I Magus, AM NOT trapped inside the body of a baby. MARLE'S baby no less. This can't be happening!  
  
"Just a little more! A little more...!"  
  
"GET IT OUT OF ME!!!"  
  
"One last push...aaaand you did it!"  
  
"Awww...he looks just like-"  
  
And that was the last Magus heard of them.  
  
He was slammed back into his own body, and quickly opened his eyes because something was choking him to death. He reached up to find that it was his cloak, and looking up he saw it was snagged on a tree branch and he was dangling there, hanging to death. A quick tug and he was free. He gave himself the once over to make sure he was in one piece, and then he took a look around and froze.  
  
There was Crono, sitting in a clearing up ahead, and as much as Magus had missed him, and wanted to go to him, he had to wait until he had stopped smiling so damned hard. 


	5. Not So Familiar Home

"So there you are."  
  
Crono just about jumped out of his skin. MAGUS! he thought, his face breaking into a smile before   
he was even able to stand up and turn around and say:  
  
"MAGUS! You're okay! I was so worried!" Before he knew it, the boy had latched onto the dark   
magician and was holding him in a vice like hug. He was just too happy to see him to care about   
the response he might get, so he didn't even notice the arm that briefly encircled him, and   
squeezed him tight.  
  
"Bah, enough of this," Magus said, prying Crono off of him. "You hugged me as if you've forgotten   
who I am. Did you hit your head or something?," he then asked, a smirk on his face that was a bit   
more jovial than usual. THIS Crono picked up on.  
  
Is he...happy to see me?  
  
"N-no, I'm fine," the boy stammered."I was just..."  
  
"Worried," the dark magician finished for him. "Yes, you said that already. When will you learn   
not to worry about me? It's a waste of energy." And with that, Magus broke out into a full   
fledged, no malice, genuine, happy SMILE. Crono could hardly believe it.  
  
"Are you...okay?" he asked, and was answered with a look of confusion.  
  
"I'm fine," Magus answered, and didn't seem to see it fit to add anything else.  
  
Hmm...Crono thought. He seems...different. It's a GOOD different but...gah! Why am I   
overanalyzing! I should be happy that he's happy!   
  
With that, Crono decided to let the topic of Magus's uncharacteristic cheeriness go, and move on   
to more important things.  
  
"Well, anyway, do you know how we got here? The last thing I remember is being hit in the head   
with something..."  
  
Magus's face suddenly resumed it's usual, guarded expression.  
  
"Well," he began,"When you were knocked out you got sucked out of the ship. I...was sucked out   
too, but it worked out because I managed to catch you on my way back to the ship. Marle was flung   
out of the ship as well, but she was unfortunately able to make it back to the ship."  
  
"Magus!" Crono exclaimed. There was that dark humor he was used to. Magus was back to himself it   
seemed, a derisive smirk on his face to prove it.  
  
"Anyway, the ship was sucked into one gate, and we were sucked into another. That's why we're   
here, and well, they aren't. As far as we know, anyway."  
  
Crono nodded his head slowly and began to look around.  
  
"Where is here, though? Or when is here...?" He turned back to Magus and sighed, but the man had   
turned away from him. He seemed to be looking around as well.  
  
  
So I didn't tell him the ENTIRE truth, Magus thought. At least he knows the important parts.  
  
But not even that was true. The taciturn wizard had left out plenty of details, the least of   
which was his frantic leap into chaos to save the boy. What about the whole swirling energy   
episode? What about the mixing bodies thing? And what about....  
  
Magus spun towards Crono.  
  
"What happened to you while you were unconscious?" he asked.  
  
Crono hesitated, and his eyes diverted their gaze before the boy turned as if to examine   
something to the left.  
  
"Nothing...just dark...it hurt a little."  
  
Magus knew the boy was hiding something, but he wasn't THAT concerned about it. If he won't tell   
me what happened to him, then that saves me the embarrassment of recounting MY experience. For a   
moment, he relived the whole Marle's baby episode, and shivered.  
  
"Why?" Crono asked, the casual tone of the question a bit to stressed and artificial."Did   
something happen to you?"  
  
"Nothing worth mentioning," Magus answered, and quickly he changed the subject. "You know, I   
think I know where we are at least." Crono furrowed his brow. "Look around," Magus said simply,   
and took another look around himself. He was pretty sure of it. They were standing in Gaurdia   
Forest.  
  
At least we're somewhere familiar he thought to himself, as a look of recognition dawned on   
Crono's face.  
  
"Oh! It looks like we're just a little ways away from the castle!" he exclaimed, looking more   
than a little relieved.  
  
Good, Magus thought when he saw the change in expression. He wouldn't allow the thoughts to go   
any deeper than that though. Besides, there was something troubling him. Something in the air...  
  
"The Dark Wind...?" he half whispered.  
  
"Wha?"  
  
"Nothing. Let's head for the castle. With any luck we'll find Marle there and be able to sort   
things out," he said, and Crono nodded in agreement.  
  
  
So they began to walk. Crono could not help but think about the times he'd been through the very   
same forest, and been attacked at every turn. There were no beast hiding in the bushes now   
though. In fact, the closer to the beaten trail they came, the browner the grass and leaves   
became.   
  
"This is weird..." he said, more thinking out loud than anything.  
  
"..."  
  
He looked to Magus and noticed the gloved hand that held tight to the handle of his scythe. It   
was as if he were expecting something to happen. His instincts are usually right, Crono thought,   
and grabbed the handle of his own weapon as well.  
  
Trudging along the path, everything around was either sickly or dead, and it was too quiet. No   
birds singing or insects buzzing. No nothing. Crono's own instincts were warning him of danger   
now. They were nearing the last bend though. Around the corner up ahead, and there would be a   
straight shot to the castle. He remembered what it was like to see the majestic structure from   
afar. How huge and regal it was. All he would have to do was see it, and he wouldn't feel so   
threatened anymore, but the moment they rounded the bend, they had to stop.  
  
"A gate?"   
  
There in front of them stood a huge metal gate. Above it and through it's bars the castle could   
be seen. There was nothing beautiful about it now though. It seemed more like ravens nest, with   
all the birds perched on it's towers and spires, and circling overhead. From this distance, there   
was little else that could be discerned, but Crono quickly turned his attention from the castle   
to the row of guards before the gate.   
  
There's...something wrong.  
  
The men wore the same armor that the knights of the Square table had worn ever since Crono had   
known of them, but it was rusted in spots, and in bad repair. They're swords were all covered in   
old blood and other organic debris. The helmets they wore all had the visors pulled down, so   
their faces weren't visible. The did not move to greet the duo. They stood deathly still.  
  
"Stay back, Crono," Magus whispered harshly, and took a step forward himself, hand never leaving   
his scythe for one moment.  
  
  
"King Cronus has decreed that there shall be no visitors allowed into the castle this day." came   
the deep, monotone voice from one of the guards. There was no telling which.  
  
This can't be, Magus thought to himself. This is not what I think it is.  
  
"We are friends of Marle," he replied."We are here to see her."  
  
But the smell...of death clings to them...  
  
"The Queen is dead," came the answer, and Magus raised a hand to silence Crono before he could   
speak.  
  
"How long-"  
  
"GO BACK the way you came."  
  
It was uncharacteristic of Magus to back down, especially when he could come up with more than   
twenty ways to dispatch the guards offhand, but there was to much he didn't know. The situation   
was too dangerous. He quietly turned and strode back the way he'd come, grabbing Crono by the   
hand and pulling him along as well.  
  
"But aren't we going to-" the boy protested.  
  
"No," Magus interrupted. "We're not going to do anything yet." He released the boy's hand.  
  
"But why!? Something happened to Marle!"  
  
"Come now, Crono, you're not this foolish. Use your head. First of all, we don't know what   
dimension we're in. This could be an entirely different world than ours, so maybe this Marle   
isn't the one we know, or maybe she died of old age, or maybe she's just supposed to be dead.   
Now, if time travel is as linear backwards and forwards as we're used to, then we're still in our   
same world...but this would have to be the future."  
  
The walked on towards the forest's exit, in silence for a moment before Crono spoke up again.  
  
"It's more likely that things are linear, like you said. That means we should at least   
investigate, right?"  
  
Always so willing to help...regardless of the danger...Is that what is so-  
  
"Maybe, but not by talking to them."  
  
"But why?!"  
  
"Because they weren't alive you fool. They were zombies, the whole lot of them."  
  
Crono's face was one of careful scrutiny. Trust me, Magus wanted to say. I've risen enough of   
them myself to know; but that would sound too bitter.  
  
"You knew it yourself, without really knowing. You sensed something odd about them, didn't you?   
You knew things weren't quite right, didn't you?"  
  
  
"Well, yeah..." Crono admitted. The whole thing had creeped him out really."And they stunk."  
  
"That's the give away. The smell of rotting flesh, aging blood, and death."  
  
Thank's for the visuals...eeeych!  
  
"Still, why would Zombie's be guarding the castle?"  
  
Well, anything could have happened, Crono answered himself. Anything at all.  
  
"Who knows," Magus responded, casting a glance back down the path they had covered."We'll find   
out what we can back in the village, if That's not overrun by zombies too."  
  
Ah, mom...and Lucca. I hope everyone is ok.  
  
They emerged from the forest after walking the rest of the way in silence, each absorbed in their   
own thoughts. Every now and then Crono would cast a glance at Magus and wonder what the man was   
thinking. His own worries would then sneak back in, though, and he would start to worry about his mother. Leaving the forest did nothing to abate his fears though. Rather, it increased them.  
  
"What the Hell IS this?" he exclaimed, his eyes wide as he surveyed the landscape.  
  
EVERYTHING was ravaged. The long stretch of land that had been a lush, grassy plain, was nothing now but dry dirt, clouds of it being blown up into the air to further darken the murky view. Over the bridge to the southwest, there were huge clouds of dust, and the unmistakable sound of fighting. Thick black smoke rose from the village of Porre, and if he looked hard enough, Crono could see spells going off. To the east was his own home town, Truce, or what was left of it. Crono turned away from it, and could feel his knees weakening beneath him.  
  
"No..." he barely whispered."No, no, no...I'm not seeing this!" he cried. "It isn't real!"  
  
He did not look at Magus. He shut his eyes against the rising tears and turned away, determined not to cry.  
  
"I-it's like you said, right?" he started suddenly."This probably isn't even our world, right? That's not my village...no, it's not...Right!?? Tell me I'm right! Please..."  
  
  
For once, Magus could not worry about the repercussions of his actions. He saw the boy's head hanging, his shoulders droop as he lost the battle against his emotions, and he did what he had to do. He wrapped his arms around Crono from behind, and let the boy lean back against him, and cry. It didn't matter if Crono remembered this later, or that there was no way Magus could explain the action away. It didn't matter, just so long as he did it, because he cared for Crono more than he was ready to admit, and because he knew what it felt like to lose everything in a flash of time...  
  
Don't cry, Magus wanted to say. Just don't cry...  
  
"Alright," he said instead, his voice devoid of any harshness. "Enough of that."  
  
Crono turned to look at him, his green eyes given new depth and brightness by the tears, and Magus could feel the sadness in those eyes, fresh as the day he'd been sucked away from his own home. The boy wiped his eyes, and gave a little nod.   
  
Stronger than I thought...  
  
"Look," Crono said, pointing towards the ruins of his village. Something was coming their way fast, and from the amount of dust it kicked up, it was big.  
  
Hmm....  
  
"Be on your guard," the wizard stated simply, and stood at the ready himself.   
  
The closer the thing got, the louder it became. It sounded like a rushing breeze, with a mechanical buzz, and it was beginning to look familiar.  
  
Is that...?  
  
"Looks like..."  
  
It was the Epoch, or at least a modified version of it. It came hovering up the slight incline from the village at tremendous speed, a woman with a mane of hair like fire at the helm, wearing goggles. The vehicle seemed as if it would come straight at them, but slowed dramatically a few feet away, and lowered itself to the ground.  
  
"I knew it, I knew it! That was a temporal distortion if I ever saw one!" the woman exclaimed, pulling the goggles up onto her forehead, and beaming at the two with dark colored eyes, and though the voice was a bit huskier, and the body was MUCH more mature, there was no mistaking this woman's identity.  
  
"Lucca?" Crono asked, incredulous.  
  
"The one and only!" she replied, still beaming.  
  
Lucca, Magus thought to himself. What IS going on here? 


	6. Strange Love

Crono: This part is pretty short, and I haven't gotten a chance to kiss Magus yet  
  
Magus: O.o;;; Who said there would be kissing??? *glares at yaoiboy*  
  
Yaoiboy: Eheheh...^_^;;;  
  
Disclaimer: I DO OWN CHRONO TRIGGER!!!! The game at least...I play it at home sometimes...*sniffs* The actual franchise? No...I still don't own that. ;_;  
This...is Lucca??  
  
Crono was having a hard time believing the woman standing before him was the same girl he had known since childhood, but he knew it was her. It just didn't LOOK at all like he would have pictured her.  
  
She stood there with her hands on her hips, wearing a fitted green tank top that was stuffed into a pair of somewhat baggy brown pants, which were themselves crammed into the tops of dirty black boots. On either hip were holstered guns the like of which Crono had never seen before, and all this was worn on a body that was much more grown up and fit than Crono remembered. Then there was the hair, which was no longer dark brown, but very red, and down to her shoulders. The goggles perched on her forehead didn't look like glasses at all, and even her eyes were a darker color.  
  
Can someone change THAT much over time? Crono wondered, as Lucca peered at him and Magus and shook her head.  
  
"You know,"she began, her voice much huskier than he remembered it,"for the longest time we all thought you two were here, or at least we hoped so. Even I, knowing the statistical improbability of it, let myself hope you two were around here somewhere, just lost or something. I expected you to come tearing into town one day looking completely different...but here you are now. Not a second older than when I last saw you...it's eerie."  
  
She was constantly looking back and forth between the two while she spoke, like they were the oddest things she'd ever seen.  
  
"It's not exactly settling seeing you either," Magus responded, looking Lucca over with some skepticism."You hardly look like the Lucca I remember at all."  
  
Hmm, I guess he would be suspiscious, Crono thought, but I know it's her.  
Magus knew it was the same Lucca. All the same, that didn't mean she was automatically trustworthy. He couldn't help but notice the two weapons at her side. If she wanted to, he thought, she could probably hit both of us with those things before we had a chance to do anything about it. If we were caught of guard anyway. That was something he was determined not to allow.  
  
"That's understandable," she replied. "And to be honest, not all the changes in me are completely natural...but this isn't the best place to sit and chat." The last part of her statement sounded uncharacteristically bitter, but understandably so. All it took was one look around at the overly apparent devestation to create a less jovial mood.   
  
Magus saw Crono's head droop, and sighed.  
  
"Come on you two. Hop onto the Epoch and I'll get us back to Truce. Most of the rest of the group is there."  
  
With that, she started the vehicle back up and began to fiddle with the controls. Magus waited for Crono to climb on board before he followed. There wasn't really much to see, but Magus got the distinct feeling that there was alot to this new Epoch. There was no roof, but then, there looked to be a retractable dome peeking up from the back. Of the four passenger chairs, two were located in small alcoves on either side of the interior, with control panels that looked suspisciously like weapon controls.  
  
Hmm...  
"Buckle up, boys. It's a ride that takes some getting used to," Lucca yelled over the increasingly loud engine noises.  
  
Can't be any worse than riding in the original Epoch, Crono thought as he fastened the harness like seatbelt. He looked over to Magus, and found the dark magician staring back at him, with what looked to be concern. It was only for a moment though. Then Magus simply looked the other way.  
  
...strange.  
  
When the Epoch took off, Crono almost immediately felt sick. It lifted up from the ground unevenly, and lurched forward. The speed was incredible, and kept him plastered to his seat, but the ride was like being on the ocean during a storm. The thing kept wobbling and pitching about, even though it appeared to be heading in a straight line. Lucca was STANDING unrestrained at the helm, steering the thing as if she were riding a bicycle or something.  
  
How is she doing that?!? Crono thought with disbelief, and opened his mouth to ask, but immediately found his mouth flung wide open from the force of the air and his lips flapping in the wind. He couldn't tell if Magus was watching but he just kept on thinking: Pleasedon'tlookpleasedon'tlook!  
  
Finally, he managed to clamp his mouth shut, just as the ruins of Truce rose up around them. Lucca slowed down here as she navigated the abandoned streets. Crono wished that she would say something, to tell him what had happened, but he figured there would be time for that. Looking past the husk of a home that looked alot like his own, and out across the sea, he couldn't help but think of his mother again, and everyone else in the little village that he remembered. The tears threatened to rise again, but he just held it all back. Enough of that, he thought, and looked over to Magus, who was looking at him again.  
  
This time it was Crono who looked away. He knew that Magus would see his feelings easily, but he didn't want anyone to see them now. Instead, he forced himself to take in all the destruction around him, and after a while he wasn't so much sad as he was angry.  
  
He knew where they were headed after watching for some time. He could see the ruins of the square up ahead. As they hovered in, and the debris was blown away, he could just make out a rusted half of Leene's Bell, where it must have fallen a long time ago. The stones that had once paved the square was being overtaken by the encroaching forest that had always surrounded the area. Great tree roots pushed up through the thick rocks, and smaller weeds grew from all the cracks.   
  
What's that? Crono thought, somewhat disinterested, peering at a strange looking arragement of plants, before he recognized the deteriorating remains of a wooden stand for what it was. As the craft turned to the left, manuvering it's way through a narrow break in the trees, Crono remembered that this was the way to reach Lucca's robot trainer, Gato. No challenge at all, he thought as they rounded the bend, and saw a blackened Gato laying motionless in the center of the area. Lucca came to a stop in front of the relic, and set the Epoch down.   
  
"This is where we get off," she said as she hopped down onto a layer of brittle dry leaves.   
  
"Here, Crono asked. It was a small space that looked to be about one second away from being swallowed by the greenery.  
  
"Here," Lucca replied with a knowing smirk that was entirely too familiar.  
Magus disembarked silently, and found himself stareing absently at Crono AGAIN!   
  
Gah, I've got to get control of this! he reprimanded himself, and forced his eyes to look at the curious husk of the robot in the center of the area. Just then he saw it's eyes light up.   
  
Hm?  
  
His hand was on his scythe even as the thing first began to move, lifting itself up and playing a grainy, unforgettable tune, and while the music played and Gato stood to his full height, it slowly became apparent that this was not the same Gato that they remembered either.   
  
In place of his hands were the slowly turning barrels of gatling guns, and a sudden mirage-like distortion around him could be nothing but an energy field.  
  
What the...???  
  
It was obvious from the way the head was swiveling about that they were all being targeted, but the mechanical eyes stopped on Lucca, and a voice came through the speakers that was obviously not Gato's.  
  
"Master Crono! Master Magus! That was you two that caused the temporal distortion. Why, you haven't changed at all." It was unmistakable. Robo, Magus thought, and released his scythe as the weapons were lowered before him.  
  
"No hello for me hm?" Lucca spat at the robot, that was moving away from a vault door that had been hidden beneath him.  
  
"Welcome back, love," came the reply.  
  
Both Crono AND Magus thought exactly the same thing.  
  
Love?!?!? 


	7. Strange Love 2

Crono: Um, there is some really weird stuff here. Really!  
  
Robo: LuccaxRobo? What's that mean? *appears puzzled*  
  
Yaoiboy: Nothing! Ehehe ^_^;;; Why don't you go laser something, or whatever it is you do.  
  
Robo: Affirmative. *walks off*  
  
Lucca: *reads the chapter* Hey, I'm not THAT lonely!  
  
Yaoiboy: ^_^;;;;;  
  
Disclaimer: Chrono Trigger does not belong to Sea world, PBS, Enron, Oprah Winfrey, OR McDonalds. Oh yeah, I don't own it either. ;_;  
Crono had exchanged one puzzled look with his equally confused companion before Lucca punched a code into a keypad on the vault door, and the huge circle of metal creaked open.  
  
"Alright boys, follow me," she said, and without ceremony, she climbed down into the hole.   
  
Crono followed after her, stopping at the edge of the opening to see a simple earthen tunnel, and a metal ladder down which Lucca was quickly climbing.   
  
Hmm...  
  
Crono knelt beside the hole and began to climb in. A slight draft from the tunnel sent a chill through him, and he shivered just a bit.   
  
"Scared?" Magus asked, and the tone of his voice made it obvious that he wasn't talking about the tunnel.  
  
"A little...yeah," Crono responded, and immediately began to climb down.   
  
Terrified even, he thought, and the monotony and relative silence of the descent allowed the negative thoughts from earlier to creep back into his mind. Where was his mother? What had happened to Marle? Why was everything destroyed?...Were they stuck in this world forever?  
  
He kept replaying the memory of the ravaged landscape above him, the razed countryside, the ruined village. He wished that he could have a moment to stop, and compose himself, to steel himself against whatever surprises were in store for him now, and he knew there would be more of them.   
  
Probably unpleasant, he thought.  
  
The one good thing to come of the situation was the closeness that seemed to be developing between Magus and himself. It had not gone unnoticed by the boy how concerned his companion seemed to be as of late, ever watchful of Crono's every move. Magus had even held him...  
  
Why can't I be excited? he thought, knowing that the answer was everywhere around him.  
Down and down they went. Magus looked down at the mop of red hair beneath him when he could, but the darkness blotted everything out after a while, and he just climbed down and thought to himself about everything that was going on.  
  
Crono probably hasn't noticed everything I have...he thought, as he went through all the things he had seen.  
  
First, there were the zombies at the castle. Their armor was the same as it had been back in their normal time, which meant that whatever had happened to them, it hadn't happened too long after the disastrous trip. The fact that they called Marle the queen probably meant that they had worked under her, but Magus knew that Necromancy was a dark art that she could never have performed with the powers Spekio had given her. Even so, she could have somehow been responsible for the state of things...  
  
Unlikely, but even so...We have to be ready for anything.  
  
...or that King Cronus whom they had mentioned was responsible. In fact, judging from the battle that had been raging at the bridge near Porre, that HAD to be the reason. The only force in the north was the Gaurdian Army, so then the King had to be making war on the southern villages...  
  
But why?? And what force would they have that could hope to stand up to the royal army?  
  
Then, there was the state of Truce to consider. Either the forces from the south, or wherever they were from, had attacked Truce by surprise, or the royal army was responsible. Given the hostile attitude of the zombie guards, the latter was more likely the case. That would point the finger at the royal family of Gaurdia as the cause of all the destruction.  
  
Or, Magus thought, someone who married into the family....who knows?  
  
It occurred to Magus that there was a large advantage in being able to view the situation objectively, and that it was an advantage that Crono did not share with him. The boy had a mother to worry about, and friends. Magus had not known this place since childhood, he had not played in fields or grown up here. In fact, the first time he came to Guardia, his intent was to destroy as much as he could to keep them from meddling in his affairs, and to keep his Mystic minions at bay. Even so, he did not like war and destruction, and liked even less the stamp of sadness it had left on Crono's face. He kept having the urge to hold him like he had before, but there was something that kept him from it.  
  
Don't think about it, he told himself, but not to think about it would mean not thinking about the one boy who was constantly on his mind. Simply put, it was something he could not do.  
  
A faint light began to illuminate the tunnel gradually the further down they climbed. No one had said anything, and the only sounds had been those of the short, dull, ring of boots against the metal rungs, and breathing.   
  
"Almost there, guys," came Lucca's voice suddenly.  
  
She had not been exaggerating. A minute more of climbing, and they trio found themselves on level ground once more, standing at the end of a twisting, natural tunnel of rock. Up ahead there were torches on the gray walls, and up ahead were many branch tunnels, also torchlit.  
  
"What...is this?" Crono asked. He was squinting off into the distance. Following his gaze, Magus could see something with a metallic glint cut across the tunnel into larger offshoots on either side.  
  
...  
  
"Well," Lucca began, pulling the goggles down from her eyes once more, so that they dangled from around her neck."This is a sprawling network of prehistoric tunnels that have existed since, well, before 65,000,000 B.C." This she said with a small smile, as if to say 'You all remember 65,000,000 B.C.'. "We call it the Rebel System though." Before Crono could fully open his mouth, Lucca held up a hand to quiet him."We can sit and talk on the rail. It's not really safe to stand around like this. Come on, this way."   
  
With that, she began to walk down the tunnel, and Crono followed, looking both curious and upset. No doubt there were questions that he wanted answered right away. As for Magus, something Lucca said had partially answered one of his own questions.  
  
Rebels...the only thing they could be rebelling against is the king.  
  
The two followed after Lucca just until they reached the silver metal bar that cut across the tunnel.   
  
So that's what was glinting...  
  
A faint rumbling could be heard down the cavernous intersecting tunnel to the right. As it got louder, the metal rail began to vibrate, creating an annoying high pitched sound that echoed through the tunnels.  
  
"Stand back," Lucca ordered, and they all stepped away from the rail. Within seconds, a bullet shaped contraption shot out of the right tunnel and came to an abrupt stop in front of them. Lucca turned to the two of them with a broad smile. "This," she said, he voice full of pride,"is the Rail Rider."  
"Wow...," was all Crono could think to say as he looked over the sleek black vehicle that hummed before him. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before. Though, at the same time, it wasn't much to look at. There were no windows, or anything adorning the gleaming black surface. However, a ripple would pulse across the surface every few seconds, as if the thing were breathing, or had a heartbeat. The most astonishing thing about it was the fact that it wasn't even connected to the metal rail beneath it, but rather, hovered just above it without any visible signs of instability. It was eerie.  
  
Weird...Crono thought.  
  
"Impressive," Magus said, looking the thing over with what looked like suspicion. "And you made this, of course."  
  
"Of course," said Lucca, that undeniable "I'm so smart" borderline arrogant tone proving once again that this was the same Lucca.  
  
Crono watched as a thin rectangle of light appeared on the Rail Rider's side, and the area within that rectangle began to slowly come away from the rest of it, leaning down till it touched the ground, a ramp to the opening before them. There was a strange man standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the bright light from within. He smiled a knowing, friendly smile, and opened his arms to all of them.  
  
This must be Ayla, Crono thought jokingly to himself. Boy, she's changed a lot too.  
  
"Finally," the man said, and Crono felt his breath catch in his throat as he peered at the man to see if it was really him talking."Greetings Crono, Magus. It's been far too long."  
  
"R...Robo?!?" Crono exclaimed in disbelief.  
  
"Why of course," he replied, as if nothing were out of the ordinary.  
  
"Preposterous," Magus spat. "What do you take us for, imbeciles?"  
  
Crono found himself wondering the same thing. The man before them was NOT Robo. Robo wasn't even technically a man! He was just a robot! This person before them was definitely not a robot. He had a head of ruffled brown hair, two bright green eyes, pale red lips, smooth looking skin, a nice-Crono noted-body, and a million other things Robo did not have.  
  
They do...sound alike though....but it can't be. No way.  
  
"It IS Robo you guys, trust me. He's just had an...upgrade, I guess you could call it," and with that, Lucca walked up the ramp, and embraced the man who was SUPPOSEDLY Robo."Underneath this sexy body, there's the same bucket of bolts you once knew."  
  
"I resent that," the man responded. "However, it is the truth. Do not let my appearance fool you. It is I."  
  
Crono did not know what to think, or to say or do. If it was really Robo, then what was with that whole sexy thing...and the love, and the hugging?  
  
Though...he DOES look good, he thought. He's no Magus, but...ack, what am I THINKING! He's a robot!  
  
Lucca untangled herself from "Robo", and shook her head at the two disbelieving faces staring back at her.  
  
"Come on board. I'll explain everything while we ride." 


	8. The Ride

Magus: Rail Rider? You know, the word 'ride' is kinda raunchy...  
  
Crono: Eh? What do you mean? *looks clueless*  
  
Magus: Oh, come over here and I'll explain *evil grin*  
  
Yaoiboy: *forgets the fic and watches the action* ^_^  
  
Disclaimer: I luff Chrono Trigger! I luff it too much to shackle it down into the slavery of ownership. Squaresoft should be ashamed of themselves for owning it! They should let it run free...in this meadow, over here. That's right *readies his net*  
The interior of the rail rider was even more impressive than the outside. There were windows alongside the inside that could not be seen on the outside. There were enough seats positioned along either side for 12 passengers, not including the two seats in the front behind glowing, complicated looking controls, and whatever was in the mystery room at the back. Crono cringed, as he guessed at what the room might be.  
  
"Don't tell me that's a bedroom back there," Magus said, voicing Crono's thoughts with his statement, and voicing Crono's suspicions with the somewhat creeped out expression he wore.  
  
"It is," Lucca responded simply, her voice sounding haggard.   
  
She must get this reaction a lot, Crono thought, looking back and forth between the suddenly tired looking woman, and the broad-shouldered man whose face was a mask of concern.  
  
"So you two-" Magus began. Crono couldn't decide if the tone was one of indignation, or disbelief.  
  
Probably a bit of both, he decided.  
  
"Sleep here, yes," Lucca responded. There was an edge to her voice that Crono didn't remember having heard before. Apparently it caught Magus off guard as well, as he didn't see it fit to press the issue. Lucca turned to her head toward Robo, but didn't take her eyes off of her visitors. "Where's Ayla?"  
  
The man that was supposed to be Robo shook his head. He looks so human, Crono thought, and the thought seemed very morbid all of a sudden. Hadn't he always thought of Robo as 'human' and 'alive'?  
  
"She stayed to fight. Considering that I told her I would return as soon as I could to help, I didn't see any reason to press her."  
  
Lucca nodded, and Crono barely suppressed his urge to ask 'fight who?'.  
  
"Fight who?" Magus asked, peering at the strange couple.  
  
Geez! Is he reading my mind now or something?   
  
Lucca sighed and gave a weak gesture for them to sit. "Let's get moving," she then said to Robo, who nodded, gave her shoulder and affectionate squeeze, and went to sit at the controls. She sat down in a seat near to them, and turned so that she faced them. She sighed, gave a wan smile, and said "This is the first time I've had to tell this entire story..."  
  
Finally, Crono thought, barely able to keep his overwhelming curiosity in check. He wanted to fire a barrage of questions at her, but decided to just let her do it at her own pace. She seemed exhausted. Chancing a glance over at Magus, he was surprised to find the red eyes of the dark mage were on him yet again. They were staring at one another when Lucca began telling her story.  
  
"It all started the day of the disaster...We had all been flung back into the clearing where we'd taken off just moments before, minus two passengers of course.  
  
"After confirming that there were no serious injuries, everyone turned to me to find out what went wrong. Of course, they weren't wrong in their assumption that I would know, and I was not about to lie to them..."  
  
The wing...Crono thought, turning to Lucca to face an accusing stare that was not there. She wasn't even looking at him.  
  
"So I explained that there had been a minuscule structural integrity issue. Not knowing what kind of havoc the extra space I'd added onto the Epoch would wreak on the original safety parameters outlined for the original model, I gave into the pressure of the moment...Threw caution to the wind, so to speak..."  
  
It was my fault, Crono thought dismally. I was the one who convinced her it was no big deal.  
  
Looking over to see Magus's reaction, he was surprised to see that there was no anger in the magician's face. He just looked very attentive, and behind him, the scenery was streaking past. They had started moving and he hadn't even noticed.  
  
Lucca took a breath. "...and it came back like a boomerang to stab me in the heart. I vowed never to make that mistake again...Little good it did me at the time, though. They were all furious at me for having placed everyone's life in such danger. None of them could believe it. Marle actually slugged me..." She gave a thin smile, shook her head a bit. "They couldn't get away from me fast enough, but not before making it clear that they held me responsible for losing you two, and therefor, responsible for bringing you back. Robo was the only one who stuck by me, though even he could find no logic in my actions..."  
  
Casting a glance at the back of the brown haired pilot, Crono wondered if he was listening.  
  
Even if he isn't, the boy thought, there's no way he can't hear. It's so quiet in here...  
  
"But he tried to help me. He tried to help me find a way to fix the Epoch, so that we could go through time to search for you...but it was out of our league. Yet another blow to my pride, I realized I had never truly understood the mechanics of time travel, and how to make it happen. I had been playing around with something totally beyond me...and it seemed I had paid for it with the lives of my friends...I began to lose hope as the months went by. No one came to see me, or encourage my efforts. Robo and I worked tirelessly to no avail. Even the old gates we had used before were closed to us, and the gate key was gone. Marle had lost her pendant in the accident...There were no leads! We didn't have anything..." She paused here, and looked off out the window with a pained expression."And then all of a sudden, Marle was pregnant."  
Magus took a sharp breath, and immediately regretted it, as two sets of curious eyes fell onto him.  
  
Control yourself, he thought, and raised his brows to the querying stares as if to say 'What, I can't be surprised?', and he was surprised, as well as intrigued, and faintly horrified at being forced to remember the whole 'I'm inside Marle's baby' weirdness. Lucca gave another pitiful smile.  
  
"We were surprised too," she went on, acknowledging Magus's little slip. "I mean, she hadn't been dating anyone at all, and it was very unbecoming of a princess to just be...sleeping around. She swore that wasn't the case though. According to her, she didn't know HOW she got pregnant. Of course, no one believed that. She gained a terrible reputation, and her father was very disappointed in her. Soon enough, he became very angry with her when she stuck to her story that, in everyone's eyes, had to be a ludicrous lie. Even I, learning the story from my father, couldn't believe it. At the same time, I knew Marle. She might have told half truths when she was joking around, but she was no liar. I especially couldn't imagine her smearing her reputation that way under any circumstances. Still, I couldn't think of any alternative explanations, but she had an idea...and that's what brought her to me."  
  
Of course Magus thought. Just like Marle not to be able to handle her own messes. Immediately he felt chastised remembering the woman was dead; but not THAT chastised.  
  
"She needed my help to prove that it wasn't true. Of course, she hadn't said one word to me since the day of the accident but...I couldn't really blame her for that. Besides, I had a feeling that the accident had played a part in her mysterious impregnation, and it turned out I was right..."  
  
Magus leaned forward, listening intently, and he saw Crono had done the same long before. The boy was cutely chewing on his bottom lip with impatience. Magus felt the image stir something in him, but he didn't bother to analyze the feeling.  
  
Lucca turned to Crono.  
  
"When you and Marle were sucked out of the ship...and Magus jumped out to rescue you, something strange happened. I didn't actually see it, but Marle described it to me in pretty good detail. She said you turned into 'energy bodies', to use her words, and that for a moment, you all mixed together. It was actually very frightening to think about, as any number of things could have been damaged or mutated in all three of you. But apparently, since different types of energy, like oil and water, can't truly be mixed, nothing really serious occurred, unless of course, you count the pregnancy."  
  
Damn her that stupid know it all brainiac! Magus could think of a thousand more profanities to throw her way, and he could barely contain his anger. Why did she have to tell THAT part of the story!   
  
Across from him, Crono had been staring directly at him ever since Lucca said the words "and Magus jumped out to rescue you". Of course, that story differed from what Magus had seen fit to tell the boy. Then there were all those other juicy tidbits of information that he'd concealed.   
  
Lucca had paused in her story, obviously noticing the sudden tension in the room, but before Magus could say anything, Crono simply looked away from him, and back to Lucca.   
  
"Go on," the boy said softly, and it was obvious, to Magus at least, that there was a torrent of feelings hidden beneath those words, the least of which had anything to do with him finding out that he may have unknowingly fathered a child.  
  
Why did I lie? Magus asked himself. Agh! Just when things were beginning to get so...so what? What the hell am I thinking?  
  
It was becoming increasingly evident to the silver haired magician that he was losing more and more ground in the battle against his feelings for the all-but-pouting Crono. It was evident in the way it stung him to see the boy's downcast expression. He wanted to say something, but what could he say? Especially with Lucca right there in the room.   
  
Right, he thought bitterly. Hide your feelings from the one sleeping with a robot because her opinion matters sooo much. Besides, he probably won't want to talk to me at all anyway...  
  
Casting one final glance back and forth between the two, Lucca cleared her throat and went on.  
  
"Well...there was really no way to be certain of this, but I was pretty confident in my deduction then, and once the child was born, I was pretty damned sure...I mean, he's the spitting image of both of you."  
"Both...of us?" Crono asked, his mind still trying to grasp that he had been lied to, still wondering whether or not his mother were alive, and now trying to come to terms withe the fact that he may have somehow fathered a baby. On top of it all was the dreadful guilt he felt at having convinced Lucca to, against her better judgement, take-off when things weren't safe.  
  
I'M the one everyone should be angry at, he thought, and he sighed heavily as he waited for the nodding woman before him to go on.  
  
"Both of you. You'd have to see it to really understand. I'm sure the resemblance is much more pronounced now that he is older. I haven't seen him in several years though..."  
  
"Why not?" Crono asked, urging her on. His curiosity was peaked.  
  
"Heh...Why not? Because he doesn't want me to see him that's why." A shadow passed over her face then that was both menacing and bitter at once. "I'd torch him if I ever saw him, or at least I'd try. Whatever love I had for him died with..." she stopped herself suddenly, appearing to struggle to regain composure. Her voice had been steadily rising with anger.  
  
Died with what? Crono thought, but he didn't dare push her this time. He just waited for her to continue.  
  
"I'm...getting ahead of myself," she said after a long pause. "It's important to tell this story in order...So back to the child being born.  
  
"By the time he was born, I had already convinced the general populace that Marle had not gotten pregnant on purpose, or through any lack of chastity on her part. It was simply...an accident. Once everyone was thoroughly convinced of this fact, the princesses' pregnancy became the joyous occasion that it was meant to be, and in all the festivities the group pulled back together again. More specifically, they forgave me...  
  
"So, when the baby was born, we were all there to witness it. Frog, Ayla, Robo, and myself. And even though we had all accepted the fact that at least ONE of you would likely turn out to be the father, no one was prepared for the striking resemblance to both of you. It was strange to see, but entirely possible when you considered the exceptional circumstances in which she had been impregnated in the first place. At a later date, I was able to run some DNA test and confirm it as fact, but right there when he was first born I knew. The child belonged to both of you. After a while of debate, Marle decided to name Cronus, after you both." Crono cast a quick glance at Magus, who had also caught the name, and was nodding his head as if to say "Ah ha!".  
  
Cronus was the name...of the King at the castle, Crono thought. Was he the one who made those zombies? And then: Is he really...OUR son?  
  
"We all agreed it was a good idea. If we could never find the two of you, and no one planned to give up searching, then at least we would have your son to love in your stead. And we loved him soo much. We did...For 5 years everything was perfect. We all chipped in to help raise him, and he amazed us by being more and more like the two of you each day. There were times, when in his full royal garb, walking through the palace with his pet kitten, that we would picture the Janus we saw on our long ago travels...And then there were the times he practiced his swordplay as doggedly as Crono had ever done. It was a joy to be around him, answering all the questions he had about you two, being able to relive all our fondest memories through the stories we told him...Little Cronus made it easier for us deal with you two not being around...until something began to happen to all of us."  
  
Crono furrowed his brow a bit, but just kept listening.  
  
"It wasn't something that just happened all of a sudden. Gradually, it had been occurring all along. There were little things that were changing about us that we couldn't really explain. Marle couldn't stand to be out in the heat for too long, or to sit very close to a fire place. Frog had to return to the bath four times a day to re-moisturize his skin. I was having strange hot flashes... None of these things happened very much at first, but then it began to get worse and worse. Frog had to spend most of his day soaking in the water, and Marle would cast small ice spells around herself to keep cool. I actually saw streaks of vividly red hair appearing on my head in growing abundance each day. Even the color of my eyes was beginning to change...On the flip side, nothing was happening to Ayla or Robo...and little Cronus seemed to be perfectly fine. So, I began to run test on the three of us who were having problems..."  
  
So that's what she meant by not all of her changes being natural, Crono thought, putting the pieces together.  
  
"Over the time it took for me to gather data, the symptoms got worse. It got so bad, in fact, that at least the cause of our troubles was achingly obvious. It was our magic. Our magic powers were to growing in strength beyond what we could handle. About six months after I had begun the testing, we started having small uncontrollable energy discharges. Rapidly, they increased in size and power until each discharge was overwhelmingly destructive.. I would have to go out into the most barren places to discharge my energy. If I didn't, I could have destroyed the entire village. It was the same for Marle and Frog. Their powers were becoming overwhelming to them. It was, again, up to me to determine what was happening. It was relatively simple to figure out by then though.  
  
"Over time, our magical abilities grow stronger. However, our bodies, the vessels for this immense power, are not able to handle such incredible and volatile amounts of energy. If we had been born with it, maybe. But Spekio gave us these powers unnaturally, and in all reality, he probably meant for it to be a temporary thing. I mean, if you REALLY think about it, he probably didn't even think we would actually defeat Lavos, and who can blame him? But we did, and now we're stuck with these powers. We can't even get to the end of time to find out if he can take them away.  
  
"So I was racing to find a way to get things under control, but I didn't know exactly where to start. I ended up attempting to develop something that could siphon off the extra energy, but that meant that I would have to determine the exact nature of magical energy. Considering how tiring it is to cast multiple spells, I surmised that magical energy was bound to the normal type of energy that gets us through the day. So, to just arbitrarily siphon off energy would basically turn us into tired weaklings. It was a complex problem to solve, but I didn't have forever to work on it. The power, if it kept growing, would obliterate us.   
  
"One day, while I was busy in my lab-then relocated into the castle-, little Cronus came down and asked me if his magic would ever do that to him. It occurred to me then that he might have inherited some magic from all three of you, but since it was with him since birth, maybe his body would be structured in a way to properly control the power. So, I set out to discover if he even had any magic at all. Maybe...if I hadn't done that..." She shook her head. "No, he was bound to discover his powers at some point..."  
"What is it Lucca? What happened?" Magus pressed. The story had made him forget about everything else.  
  
"Exactly what I wanted to happen," she responded, the sarcasm in her tone directed at herself. "He found out that he did indeed possess magic. Magic much greater than what any of us could ever hope to posses." 


	9. The Ride 2

Crono: *reads* Geez, this is pretty long.  
  
Magus: *reads* Umm, this is kinda personal *attempts to white out the first few pages*  
  
Yaoiboy: *snatches the story* Hey! You two can't read this! Back! Back I say! *cracks a whip*  
  
Magus and Crono: *rush back into the bedroom where they are forced to...inspire Yaoiboy*  
  
Yaoiboy: ^_^;;;;  
  
Disclaimer: What is this, chapter 9? And you guys are STILL hounding me!? Look, I DON'T OWN CHRONO TRIGGER!!! Now leave me alone! *shoo's away the lawyers circling his story like vultures*  
For a while, the trio (quartet if you counted the silent Robo), sat in silence while Lucca appeared to gather her thoughts. Her last statement, about Cronus being more powerful than any of them could hope to become, rose serious doubts in Magus's mind. Maybe Cronus was more powerful than Crono, Marle, Frog, and Lucca could hope to become, but not Magus. He had been born with his magic, and they had never even seen him come CLOSE to testing his limits. He allowed himself to feel appropriately smug and superior for a moment, before going back to digesting what he had been told thus far.  
  
Apparently he, Crono, and Marle, had by some odd circumstances created a child who was now a tyrant oppressing the kingdom of Guardia. Lucca, Marle, and Frog had suffered from some strange overwhelming power increase, but apparently Lucca had found a way to control it since she didn't seem to be having the same troubles any longer. He studied her intently, noticing more fully the changes the magic had wrought. Her hair was a dark red-orange, and her eyes were a mottled, fiery color that flickered and changed with every glance.  
  
Redirecting his gaze to Crono, Magus found the boy was also studying his changed childhood friend. He looked concerned, his emerald eyes a little squinted, as if he were trying very hard to understand all the things Lucca had said. His mouth parted just a little, the pink tongue slipping out to wet the lips periodically. Magus found his eyes following the curve of the soft curve of Crono's chin, down along his jaw line, his slender neck. With a sigh, he looked away, feeling that he had no real right to look at all. Hadn't he lied to Crono?   
  
About more things than one, he thought dismally. I've lied . . . to myself as well. What good does it do to admit any of it now, though? Better that nothing . . . ah, what am I thinking? I should just forget it.  
  
The blue haired magician could not forget though. Not with the surge of memories that he had been forced to endure just a short while ago. Why couldn't he just admit how he felt? It was hardly a secret that the red headed youth had feelings for him. Why couldn't he just go for it? He chuckled inwardly, a mirthless chuckle.  
  
Just like before . . . the exact same situation, more or less, he thought. Destined for the same outcome . . . ?  
  
Without Lucca's story to distract him, he fell into remembering while settling his red-eyed gaze on Crono's face . . .   
He had ruled the mystics for several years now, and he was in his teens. The turbulent period of wresting control from Ozzie (who had been less than eager to give up his throne, and fought many more losing battles for it) was long past. Magus was the undisputed king of mystics, and Flea was his beloved companion.  
  
They had both grown into stunning young men, each very handsome in their own right, but seeming insanely beautiful when compared to the other occupants of the castle. Victims brought within the walls would often see them and think they were guardian spirits come to rescue them from their plight. This, of course, was not the case. Magus made no attempt to alter the way things were run in the castle. His monstrous minions still plagued the people of Guardia without his interference, and Ozzie was still in charge of most of the goings on of the castle. This was the only way Magus could gain their loyalty, which he would need very soon when he was ready to move on with his plans to find, and destroy, Lavos.  
  
He had done all he could in the seclusion of the hidden fortress. He had poured over the ancient books in the library, learning to read the cryptic mystic script in a matter of months. He read everything he could, and did indeed find mysterious mention of Lavos in few of the books, though nothing about how to defeat him per se. The mystic culture worshiped him like a god, generally referring to him as some sort of ultimate summon that would make the summoner unbeatable. In the end, Magus determined that all of these books referred to a single text that was not in the library. It was then that he came up with the idea of raiding the library within Gaurdia castle. It was a plan that was slowly coming to fruition, as the mystics incensed the population of the neighboring continent to new heights. They would soon be clambering for the war that would keep everyone from bothering him while he continued on with his plans of revenge.  
  
The long wait didn't bother him much, as he knew that he was by no means strong enough to defeat the monster, even though his strength had grown with practice over the years. He had even been able to gradually teach Flea to use magic, and taken him on journeys in search of some lich or mystic lord that may have had some information worth fighting for. The two had been on very many adventures together, and had become closer all the time. Magus had fallen in love with Flea in this way, but he imagined that Flea had always loved him.  
  
In the castle, alone in their shared bed chamber, Magus would relish in the only human company he had allowed himself in years. There was no need to be stoic with Flea. He could laugh with him and relax. He could talk about the things that bothered him. He could hold him as they slept, kiss him deeply whenever the moment seized him, make love to him every night...  
  
But I couldn't SAVE him...  
  
The memories came in quick succession, like his life was flashing before his eyes. There was the night he would never forget, that very first night...  
  
"Can I...come in?" came the muffled voice from the other side of the door to Magus's bedchamber. It was Flea's voice.  
  
"Of course," Magus responded.  
  
He heard the low groan of the heavy wood, straining the ancient hinges. A sliver of light sliced across the darkened room, illuminating the burgundy rug, one cherry wood post of the four that held up the dark wizard's bed, glinting off of the mirror atop his dresser. The rest of the room was bathed in a weak blue light. Moonlight from the open window. Magus stood with his back to the large arched hole in his wall, the breeze lifting his hair a bit, then dropping it. He had been looking at the stars, thinking of his home, but he was happy to see Flea now.  
  
"Star gazing...?" The boy asked, walking in slowly and closing the door behind him. He was his usual, beautiful self, dressed in white sleeping clothes that were as unisex as his androgynous face and genderless voice. His red hair was bound in a long ponytail, that bobbed side to side when he walked. He smiled his lopsided smile, a very appropriate smile for one as odd as Flea happened to be.  
  
"Yeah," Magus answered simply, already striding towards his love, who still smiled, patiently waiting...When he was close enough, which meant inches from Flea, he gripped the boy's slim waist and pulled him forward, so that their body's were pressed together. He could feel flesh trembling beneath his fingers. He kissed the grinning lips without preamble, as was his way, and he kept it as chaste as he could, though he wanted it to be less so. Pulling back after a second, he asked "Why ask to come in when you were invited?"  
  
"Because your door was closed. I thought you would be standing there waiting at the door for me," Flea responded with another of his grins.  
  
"Don't flatter yourself," Magus answered gruffly, after laughing a bit. Flea wore a theatrical expression of pain, pouting his lips as if wounded. Magus kissed the pout away, and again felt the boy shivering. "Flea...are you SURE you want to go through with this?" he asked, able to accept an answer of 'no' even if he wasn't exactly willing to. After all this time together as a couple, Flea had finally agreed to take the next step. Magus recognized that it was a hard step to take for the boy who had been used for such a purpose throughout his childhood, but it was something they would both have to get through sooner or later.  
  
"Of course..." Flea said, looking earnest. "Yes, I want to..."  
  
Magus couldn't remember how much else they'd said to one another that night that wasn't a single syllable exclamation. He remembered kissing Flea again, deeply, invading the boy's mouth with his tongue, and then removing his clothes to see the beautiful form beneath them, well muscled and not at all misleading like his face and voice. He had kissed that chest, those nipples. He had tasted every inch of creamy skin, and touched every spot as well. He had gone down on him and tasted all of his most private parts and made Flea moan with pleasure for hours on end. When he'd finally "revealed" himself, he did remember Flea having asked him how he fit into his pants. They had laughed about that, and then they'd made love, more than a few times that night.  
  
When it was over, and they lay spent next to one another beneath the sheets, Magus was left to wonder about how rough he had been, and how Flea had begged for it. Wasn't that just like the mystics had been with them both? Rough and unrelenting? Hadn't he envisioned it nice and slow, a departure from the tortures of their youth? He had enjoyed it though, and so had Flea, and that was all that mattered to him in the end. From then on, they shared his royal chambers, and whenever they decided to make love, it became increasingly rough.  
  
I should have seen it coming, Magus thought, his memories transitioning from one to the next in that seamless way memories do.  
  
Now it was a few years later, and he was standing in the shadowed stairwell, watching Flea do all manner of things in one of the underground rooms where a large number of mystics had gathered. The scene was an ever changing swirl of black and orange, lit by a large fire that had been made in the room's center. Flea's impassioned cries could be heard all the way up in the throne room. Not cries of displeasure though. He was enjoying himself. He was enjoying every second of it.  
  
Without letting himself be known to them, Magus had made his way to his room, and locked the door. He lay awake in bed a long time, and he cried. That he tried to hold back and failed just made the tears even more bitter. When hours had passed, and he heard the door rattle, he could not move to open it. Flea knocked, then he pounded the wood. He called out to Magus, but the dark wizard could think of no words. He had looked out his window at the stars, and thought to himself that the number of stars in the sky could not equal the number of pieces into which his heart had been shattered. He had fallen asleep hearing Flea cry "I'm sorry!"  
  
Ever after, he could not help but blame himself. There had been some failing inside of him, something he had lacked that turned Flea to such things, and that being so, he never took another chance with their relationship. He thought he had given Flea everything, but obviously he had not...  
  
"It's not you!" Flea cried. They were in the room again, Magus sitting on the window sill, watching the smoke curl up from a village across the sea. Flea had been a part of that attack. Flea, who had taken to stuffing a bra to look like a woman, so that men might lust after him, and take him roughly. Flea who must have sex every night, with anyone, or everyone, it didn't matter. "I just love it! I've always loved it! Why is that so horrible?"  
  
"Even as a child? Even when they..." Magus couldn't bring himself to say the words. He could not understand it. He thought it was a lie.  
  
"Yes, even then! I liked it...everyone said it was wrong for me to like it, and I tried not to. I tried to hate it, but for what? It only made me miserable. And they knew that I liked it so that's what they used me for, all the while telling me it was some dirty thing, something to be ashamed of. They were ashamed, but not me!"  
  
It's true, Magus thought. He just craved it...I don't know if it was wrong for him to or not but...  
  
He could never shake the feeling that it was his fault. He became as unfeeling towards Flea as anyone else, and soon a young mystic swordsman named Slash became his trusted one, but there was no attraction between them. Slash was simply competent, and loyal. Magus didn't know what Flea was anymore.  
Crono is nothing like that, Magus told himself. It's not the same thing.  
  
It was true, he knew. Crono and Flea were nothing alike. There were no grounds to have those same old fears. This was something totally new. Yet he'd already managed to botch it up, hadn't he? Magus sighed and ran a hand back through his streaked hair. Outside the windows of the Rail Rider was a brown blur of subterranean walls. Crono looked down at the floor in thought, and Lucca had her head tilted upwards, her eyes shut tight. Either she was trying to remember what came next, or trying to compose herself. Magus didn't really care which it was. He just wanted her to continue. He didn't want to think of these things right now.  
  
Hm, I never thought I'd see the day I'd want to hear Lucca talk, he thought, or that I'd run away from something...  
Crono didn't like the silence. It was making him think of all the things he had been told, all the questions he could not answer. What of his mother? What about Marle and Frog and Ayla? Most of all, what was up with his son, if it really WAS his son.   
  
Gah, Lucca wouldn't say something like that if she wasn't sure...Its still weird though.  
  
Looking at Lucca, Crono found it easy to find the face of his best friend, even amidst all the unnatural changes. When he looked over at the silent Robo, or at least his back, he still couldn't believe that was the same strange robot he had befriended a long time ago. Lucca had no reason to lie about that either though. In fact, she had no reason to lie about any of the things she said. This fact, which should have been reassuring, was actually frightening to Crono.  
  
I wonder if my powers will overwhelm me, he thought. I've traveled through time enough times without anything like that happening but...never like this, and especially not with all the strange energy mixing, or whatever, that had occurred. Which reminded him...  
  
Why did Magus lie to me about that? Crono wondered. Maybe he just didn't want me to worry...?  
  
That didn't seem to make sense though. Even though it was, as Lucca had stated earlier, cause for worry, Crono could not imagine Magus not telling him for that reason. Unless the usually stoic wizard did care, which the Crono was beginning to suspect more and more each passing day. Looking back, he remembered that moment when he'd reached up to touch Magus's face and feared for his safety. Now Magus had hugged him, while he was crying, VOLUNTARILY no less. Since then, every time the boy looked up, those cool red eyes were on him. All this had to be indicative of some kind of attraction, or at least some stalker-esque qualities (which Crono decided he could live with). Not to mention his leaping into space time to save Crono from certain doom. That wasn't exactly the most uncaring action in the world either.   
  
So what am I going to do? he asked himself, looking up at Magus to see that man's far away gaze aimed at one of the windows and the earthen blur of scenery without. Probably nothing, he answered himself, and sighed.  
  
It was the unfortunate truth, though. Crono had never had the courage to approach anyone in a romantic sense, and though he was often approached by girls, he just wasn't interested in them. Over time, those close to him had discovered his preferences. His mother, Lucca, even Marle had discovered it, though she didn't ever really believe it was true. Nobody really seemed to care, but that didn't change anything.   
  
He sighed again, and slumped back into his chair. Lucca turned to look at him, and offered a reassuring, though wan, smile. Crono barely, BARELY, managed to smile back. He just wished she'd get on with it, so he wouldn't have to think about his hopeless attraction to someone who would sooner swallow his own scythe than kiss him.  
  
Suddenly, all the windows were filled with a beautiful vista of the golden sky, in the midst of dawn, and the choppy waves of the sea far below them. Just as suddenly, the monotonous brown returned. Apparently, they had just sped across the gap between the northern and southern continents. It wouldn't be too long now.  
  
"Well," Lucca began. "We're halfway there...I'd better continue."  
  
Finally, Crono thought. He cast a glance at Magus, who also seemed to be anxious for the tale to go on.  
  
"So...I was telling you about Cronus, and how he might have been the key to my finding a way to get our powers under control..."  
"It was easy enough teaching him to cast his spells, and he did indeed have the basic ice and lightening spells within his power to cast, as well as a dark bomb spell. So far, my hypothesis had proved correct. He did posses the magic of his..."parents". I admit, I was impressed by the ease with which he managed the castings; and though they were basic spells, they were powerful. I was too concerned with moving on with my research to really care about that though...too busy gathering blood samples and examining his cells, which were indeed structured differently to handle the extra, volatile energy..." She paused to sigh, and then went on.  
  
"I was finished with him, as far as research went. I knew what we would have to do. Robo and I got to work on it, and we spent every waking hour creating the solution. No one bothered us, though Marle and Frog came down often to check on our progress, or suggest that we take a break. My point is, we were pretty much secluded from the goings on of the castle for a while. We didn't have any idea what was going on around us..."  
  
"Anyway, my idea was to create tiny nano-bots, which are microscopic robots, with the same functions of the cells in Cronus's body. Basically, they are like little storage cells that gather all the excess energy and release it in response to the same internal signals that normally release our magic. Honestly, I could go into detail but it's all very complicated and unnecessary. The important thing is, it worked. I injected the bots into everyone of us, and the next day, we could all feel the power was coming under control. We were cured...but trouble was far from over."  
  
Magus cocked a brow. What now? he thought.  
  
"Everything was okay for several months. Within that time, I began to take notice of things that were different in the castle. There was an air of nervousness among the servants. I asked around and found out that it had something to do with Cronus. He was changing somehow, they said. He became rough and snotty with them. Worst of all, he threatened them with his magic, forcing them to do things they otherwise would not do, though none of them would tell me what these things were. Of course, my first course of action was to go to Marle. Surprisingly enough, she knew about it, and had tried her hand at handling the boy herself. He had promised to shape up, she said. She would wait to see if he meant it.  
  
"Again, I thought that was the end of it...but I still wanted to talk to him myself. I felt responsible, somehow. Maybe if I hadn't made him use his power so early on...Well, I went to see him, and found him holed up in the library, pouring over old spell books and memorizing spells. He smiled at me and told me he wanted to be a powerful wizard someday, so he was studying up. He seemed so innocent there. I asked him about the incidents with the servants, and he apologized. He seemed remorseful...He asked my questions then, about you two. He wanted to know a lot of things about you...and then, he wanted to know how it was possible for him to have two fathers. I told him, without really thinking about it. I'll never forget the strange look he had in his eyes..."  
  
Magus wondered what would have made her tell the boy such a thing, when he was so young. His existence had come about accidentally. Were it not for that disaster, he would never have existed.  
  
"Little Cronus...became very reticent, studying and practicing his magic like one possessed. Each time I saw him, out in the fields alone, casting spells, I noted that he was more powerful than the last time. And no spell seemed beyond him. Fire and water spells came as easy as any other to him. Though he had kept his promise never to threaten the servants again, they grew ever more afraid of him. Even the King finally expressed some concern with the boy's unchecked growth in power. He advised Marle to go and talk to him. Again, he promised to slow down, and again appeared to keep his promise. Rarely did one see him out casting anymore, or pouring over what few spell books he had not read. He turned his attention to history, mainly the many chronicles of our battle against Lavos. This seemed harmless enough, and though the boy was already extremely powerful, everyone was at ease. I moved back out to my own home, to spend time with my parents, and your mother as well, Crono. Robo came with me, and Frog prepared to leave on his own, in search of a way to break his curse. There was a period of about a year that we were all tangled up in our own affairs, and though we kept in touch, it was by letters mostly, or in passing..."   
  
Here she paused, looking off into space, obviously picturing something from back then. Magus saw some reaction in Crono at the mention of his mother, though he couldn't decide whether it was good or bad.  
  
"Then the King passed away," she continued, the words coming out amidst a sigh,"and mourning swept over the land. You can imagine that Marle was devastated, as were we all, but the King was a very old man. It was not completely unexpected, but still...no one is ever really prepared to lose someone. The funeral was a huge affair, of course...so many people were there...I saw Cronus for the first time in a while, looking a bit older, and crying though I had not expected him to...I offered to come back to the castle, but Marle said she would be okay. She wanted to be alone...she would keep in touch....."  
  
She sighed.  
  
"But I never got a chance to talk to her again. She passed away...about a month later. Grief...she died from grief. She wouldn't eat or sleep. She just wasted away....I saw her at the funeral...I cried so much...we all cried. It seemed that the entire world was crying...Cronus had not come to the funeral. He was, apparently, not taking the death of his mother and grandfather very well at all. To make matters worse, he was now the ruler of the kingdom...  
  
"Of course, the chancellor was pretty much in charge at first, but Cronus took the reins after only a short while. It was then that all the strange happenings began. Many things that I don't know about first hand, but heard from servants and soldiers who left the castle along with many others soon into Cronus's reign. He was cruel, they said, to everyone but the soldiers, whom he admired. He spent long hours in the libraries, again taking up his old habit of learning more and more spells. He used very powerful magic when he was angered. He had killed people...  
  
"Then came the rumors about him resurrecting the dead. People swore that there were empty graves in the soldier's graveyard, and that the young king was often seen visiting the tomb where his own royal ancestors lay. He began to frequent the dungeons beneath the castle after that, and soon after made the area off-limits to anyone but himself. At any time of the day, loud noises could be heard coming from beneath the castle. People wanted to investigate, but there were deadly wards placed around the entrances...  
  
"Over time, the castle workers migrated away from there, but the King took no notice of their departure. He was doing SOMETHING, but no one knew what. He delegated most of the responsibilities of running the kingdom to the chancellor, and even he had no idea what Cronus was up too. When he sent an excavation team to dig under Leene Square, he had us all confused. The Mayor demanded to know what was going on. Leene Square was a very special place. He wouldn't have them just digging it up without knowing why.  
  
The soldiers came the next day, and they raided the village, and killed the mayor, and plenty of others. They set fire to the buildings, the crops...they destroyed everything they could. We were hardly able to resist, and even when we cut them down, they'd simply rise up again. Zombies...the rumors were confirmed. The siege lasted for several days, until everyone was either dead, or had escaped to the southern continent. My mother escaped, your mother as well Crono; a few other families made it out...My dad...stayed to fight..." She shook her head. "All resistance was futile. Even with Robo, Ayla, and myself aiding the militia...Truce was decimated, and for what? Why couldn't he just tell us what was going on? Why did he order THAT...?!  
Crono noted the exclamation as the first spark of emotion that Lucca had not been able to hide since after mentioning Marle's death. She had tried to tell the story stoicly, but even her restraint belied her emotions, and she was shaking.  
  
"Anyway, we escaped across the bridge to San Dorino. They knew, of course, that Truce had been under attack, but had no idea why. In the meantime they had agreed to allow an excavation in the middle of their town, but thought the better of it once we'd told them the whole story. A small force gathered at the bridge, made up of people from the village, and several mercenaries and ex-soldiers of the royal army. Ayla decided to fight with them, while Robo and I, along with a few spare soldiers, escorted the remaining refugees to Porre.   
  
"By the time we arrived, the news had reached them as well, and they were forming their own rebel force. Tata, who I'm sure you remember," Crono nodded, " is the leader of the rebel forces of Southern Guardia. At the time, he was only in charge of Porre's sector...but now they all work together. Anyway, as soon as we arrived, they made sure the refugees were safe, and gathered the fighters together to start planning a preemptive strike on the castle. Only a few days later, though, the battle began at Zenan bridge, and we all had to go there to hold them off.  
  
"That basically brings us to where we are now. Off and on, we've been battling at the bridge. At one point, we were able to push through, and make it all the way up to Gaurdia Forest, battling right before the gates. We had to pull back though, because the soldiers we had 'slain' on our way there were rising up and coming to surround us. Since then, it's been constant battling...."  
  
"What about Cronus?" Crono asked, wondering whether or not the boy was spearheading the attacks, or just hanging back in the castle. Lucca shook her head.  
  
"Nobody has seen him. For all we know, he might have left the continent. He's the one pulling the strings though, wherever he is..."  
  
She sighed, rose up, and strode over to the door. The man that was supposed to be Robo also rose from his seat up front.  
  
"We have arrived," he said, and Crono realized suddenly that the Rail Rider had come to a stop. 


End file.
